Politics

By Tami Luhby, Tierney Sneed and Rene Marsh, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk have big ambitions for making the federal government leaner and more efficient by reviewing its budget and operations from top to bottom. Musk, the world’s richest person who owns or runs several companies, has warned that his goals

By Eric Bradner, Kayla Tausche and Kristen Holmes, CNN (CNN) — In the days after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, allies described his transition effort as far more disciplined than his first post-victory period in 2016. Then, a 24-hour stretch — that started with Trump’s selection of Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary on

By Jeremy Herb and Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth has railed against women in combat, voiced support for troops accused and in some instances, convicted of war crimes, and advocated for the firing of the military’s most senior officers accused of supporting so-called woke policies. Though

By Sean Lyngaas and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — As Donald Trump conducts a free-wheeling transition from his Mar-a-Lago estate, drawing flocks of business moguls, contractors, foreign dignitaries and anyone looking for jobs in the new administration, the federal agencies charged with protecting the president-elect and his communications face a daunting task. Security at Mar-a-Lago

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The lawyers who have been representing Rudy Giuliani are trying to quit his debt enforcement case because of disagreements with him, according to new court filings, as a Friday deadline nears for the former New York City mayor to turn over many of his most valuable possessions to two

By Aileen Graef, Annie Grayer and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — House Republicans announced Wednesday night an agreement to raise the threshold to invoke a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair, in exchange for amendment changes. The motion to vacate rule currently allows just a single member of Congress to call for a no-confidence vote

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is seriously considering naming his lead attorney Todd Blanche to serve as the next deputy attorney general, the second-highest position in the Justice Department, according to two people familiar with his thinking. Blanche has represented Trump for the last 18 months and defended him during his

By Manu Raju, Sarah Ferris and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — The House Ethics Committee was due to meet this week to vote on releasing a report about Matt Gaetz, who resigned from Congress on Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate the Florida congressman to serve as attorney general, according to

By Ethan Cohen and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The incredibly tight Pennsylvania race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick will head to a recount, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Wednesday. While provisional and mail ballots are still being counted, unofficial results show the race to be

By Marshall Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Eric Hovde, the Wisconsin Republican who nearly unseated Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, acknowledged this week that he lost the election but also raised questions about the legitimacy of the result as he mulls requesting a recount. Even as they celebrate President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, right-wing figures such as tech

By Haley Talbot, CNN Washington (CNN) — House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul was detained at Dulles Airport earlier this month when he appeared intoxicated after the congressman said he had consumed the sleep aid Ambien and alcohol. During the incident, first reported by Semafor and confirmed to CNN by a spokesperson for the congressman,

By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN (CNN) — New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for US ambassador to the United Nations, is now refusing to stand by her previous push for Ukraine’s NATO membership — a stance she once framed as critical to regional stability. Her office also declined to say whether she still

CNN By Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, Annie Grayer, Evan Perez and Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general. “Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System,” Trump wrote Wednesday in a post

By Jeremy Herb and Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s selected former Democratic congresswoman-turned Trump supporter Tulsi Gabbard as his pick to be director of national intelligence. The selection of Gabbard is sure to set off a major confirmation fight. Gabbard, an Army National Guard veteran, unsuccessfully ran for

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump’s increasingly provocative Cabinet picks have left some Republican senators aghast and Washington in shock. But they really shouldn’t. Because the outrage is the point. The president-elect reached a new level on Wednesday, announcing Florida Republican Matt Gaetz — one of his most zealous agents of

By Stephen Collinson, CNN (CNN) — Republicans have secured their monopoly on power in Donald Trump’s new Washington, retaining their majority in the House of Representatives, CNN projected Wednesday, ushering in a dramatic new era of right-wing populist rule. The GOP’s control of both chambers of Congress – won after Republicans were projected to hold

By Kevin Liptak, Sam Fossum and Samantha Waldenberg, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden will meet for a final time this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping as he prepares to hand over power — and the reins of the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship — to President-elect Donald Trump in January. The meeting,

By Michelle Shen, CNN Washington (CNN) — The election of Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as the next leader of his party in the chamber – putting him on track to become Senate majority leader next year – tasks a key ally of Mitch McConnell with shepherding the agenda of President-elect Donald Trump