Politics

By Kevin Liptak and Jeff Zeleny, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump waited to appear in public on Tuesday until the final hour of trading on Wall Street, when he stepped out of the Oval Office to forcefully defend his whipsaw tariff decisions that have roiled the financial markets. “We had the greatest economy

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department told a federal judge on Tuesday that the acting head of the Office of Personnel Management won’t testify at a hearing later this week in a major case challenging the government’s efforts to cull the federal workforce, after the judge had rejected a DOJ request to

By Shania Shelton, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk on Monday highlighted the cost of federal spending on entitlement programs, the latest sign of the tech billionaire and presidential adviser’s focus to downsize the federal government amid fears of cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. “Most of the federal spending is entitlements. So that’s the

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Congress has approved a stopgap bill to fund the federal government through September 30 and avert a shutdown ahead of a Friday deadline. Overall, the measure would boost defense spending by $6 billion compared to fiscal year 2024 and decrease nondefense spending by $13 billion. While Republicans have described

CNN, TRUTH SOCIAL, POOL, HOUSE TV By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — The House on Tuesday approved a stopgap bill aimed at funding the federal government through September 30 and preventing a shutdown after the Friday deadline. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where it’s largely up to the Democrats to decide whether to

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — The California governor’s race isn’t waiting for former Vice President Kamala Harris to make up her mind whether she’s going to run. Former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who represented Orange County in the US House for three terms, announced Tuesday she’s entering the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom,

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is waging a war against the legal community in the United States with a target list growing by the day. Thus far, President Donald Trump has issued executive orders that have targeted two law firms representing his perceived enemies, and his administration has attacked firms and

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot, CNN (CNN) — Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats are ready to seize on the first big leverage point of President Donald Trump’s second term, lining up against a bill to avert a government shutdown this week. But the party’s position is far murkier in the Senate, showcasing

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge ruled Monday that the US Department of Government Efficiency is likely covered by the Freedom of Information Act, a federal transparency law that allows outsiders to obtain internal government records detailing agency conduct. The new preliminary ruling from US District Court Judge Casey Cooper is a

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A top official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau testified in court Monday that efforts by DOGE to quickly and aggressively abolish the agency have been somewhat reined in by Trump-appointed agency leadership in recent weeks. The testimony from Adam Martinez, the CFPB’s chief operating officer, was the first

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The United States wants to hear what concessions Ukraine would be willing to make in negotiations to end the war with Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ahead of a high-stakes meeting between the two nations on Tuesday. “We really want to sort of ascertain where they

By Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — When a multi-million federal grant program for dairy businesses was shut down earlier this month in line with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency push to downsize the government, Wisconsin lawmakers on both sides of the aisle sprang into action to try and save it. The Democratic senator who

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of a California fire chief who claimed he lost his job because of his Christian faith, a case that could have made it easier for Americans to win discrimination lawsuits against employers. Ronald Hittle, a 24-year veteran of the

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday said it would review a Colorado law that bars mental health professionals from practicing “conversion therapy” for minors, a discredited practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor and practicing Christian, challenged that law under

By Jennifer Hansler and Kit Maher, CNN Washington (CNN) — The Trump administration is canceling 83% of programs at the US Agency for International Development and intends to fold the remaining programs under the State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday. The move to have the remaining 1,000 USAID programs administered by the

By Daniel Dale, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump correctly noted Friday, as he has before, that Canada has tariffs above 200% on dairy products imported from the US. But Trump again failed to mention a critical fact. Those high tariffs kick in only after the US has hit a certain Trump-negotiated quantity of

By Joan Biskupic, CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst (CNN) — Federal judges hearing Trump administration litigation have increasingly gone beyond the case at hand to reflect on potential threats to democracy or offer dramatic assertions about the state of America. Democratic and Republican appointees alike, these judges are giving voice to a simmering concern in judicial