Politics

By Holmes Lybrand A former Republican congressional candidate pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting a campaign contribution that violated campaign finance law. Lynda Bennett — who was backed by then-President Donald Trump and his chief of staff Mark Meadows in her 2020 run for Meadows’ former House seat in North Carolina — pleaded guilty to one

By Sydney Kashiwagi, CNN Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill into law this week that rolls back a number of child labor protections across the state, including a measure that had required employers to obtain work certificates for children under the age of 16. “The Governor believes protecting kids is most important,

By Haley Britzky, CNN Senior US generals issued stark warnings to lawmakers about what they described as an “aggressive” expansion of Chinese influence in South America and the Caribbean encroaching on American interests in the region. “The [People’s Republic of China] has the capability and intent to eschew international norms, advance its brand of authoritarianism,

By Lauren Fox, CNN The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday voted to advance the embattled nomination of Eric Garcetti to be ambassador to India. The vote was 13-8, primarily along party lines. Two Republicans Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee voted with Democrats to support the nominee. The next step

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Devan Cole and Evan Perez, CNN The Louisville Metro Police Department routinely uses excessive force and practices “an aggressive style of policing” against Black people, the Justice Department said Wednesday after an investigation launched following the botched raid that killed Breonna Taylor. The scathing assessment paints a shocking portrait of racist and

By Ella Nilsen, CNN The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed a new rule for regulating wastewater from coal-fired power plants that are stronger than previous rules in the Obama and Trump administrations. “Coal-fired power plants discharge wastewater that can contain toxic metals and other pollutants that contaminate our vital water sources,” EPA Administrator Michael

By Jeremy Herb and Zachary Cohen, CNN US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told Congress Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to press Taiwan and try to undercut US influence in the coming years as he begins a third term as president. While Beijing has stepped up its public criticism of the

By Annie Grayer, Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju, CNN House Speaker Kevin McCarthy often spent the last two years avoiding much discussion about the January 6, 2021, attack. Now, he’s effectively put the issue back in the spotlight and on the investigative agenda — a gambit that has divided House and Senate Republicans and reopened

By Sydney Kashiwagi, CNN ’90s sitcom star Ben Savage of “Boy Meets World” is running as a Democrat for Rep. Adam Schiff’s southern California congressional seat, the actor announced this week. “I firmly believe in standing up for what is right, ensuring equality and expanding opportunities for all,” Savage said in an Instagram post Monday.

By Tami Luhby, CNN President Joe Biden and House Republicans have promised not to touch Social Security in their battle over cutting spending to address the nation’s debt ceiling crisis. While that vow is intended to indicate support of the popular entitlement program, it could actually lead to financial disaster. Tens of millions of senior

By Haley Britzky, CNN The US Army on Wednesday launched a years-in-the-making rebrand, including two new recruiting commercials, as it aims to increase enlistment numbers after failing to meet its recruiting goals last year. “The Army at the end of the day is here to fight and win the nation’s wars, and we wanted to

By Jeremy Diamond and Betsy Klein, CNN President Joe Biden will propose cutting the deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade in his budget blueprint, the White House announced on Wednesday. “The president’s budget, which we will release tomorrow, will cut the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next 10 years. That’s

By Clare Foran, CNN Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is inviting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Ukraine to see the situation on the ground first hand — an invitation that comes as the Republican Party faces a divide over whether the United States should continue to provide aid to the country under attack from Russia.

By Clare Foran, Ali Zaslav and Ted Barrett, CNN The Senate passed a Republican-led resolution on Wednesday to block a controversial Washington, DC, crime bill that opponents have criticized as weak on crime. The measure will next go to President Joe Biden, who has said he won’t veto it. The effort to block the crime