Politics

By Natasha Bertrand and Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosted a Christian prayer service on Wednesday at the Pentagon for employees that included a sermon by his hometown pastor who said President Donald Trump had been “sovereignly appointed.” The service, which Hegseth told the audience would be a monthly event,

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — US and European authorities on Wednesday announced a major crackdown on a prolific hacking tool that has been used by hundreds of hackers in damaging ransomware attacks, bank thefts and other digital crimes. The US Justice Department said it had seized the computer systems hackers used to access the

By David Wright and Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — As President Donald Trump works to muscle his sweeping tax and spending cuts package through Congress, a network of conservative groups has undertaken a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz to spread his message to voters and pressure recalcitrant lawmakers to get in line. The outside spending to pass

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Medicaid has become a key hot button topic in the sweeping tax and spending cuts bill that House Republicans are scrambling to pass as soon as this week. Democrats are slamming their rivals for slashing federal support for the bedrock safety net program, while President Donald Trump and GOP

By Katelyn Polantz, Priscilla Alvarez and Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration “unquestionably” violated a court order when it tried to transfer detainees to war-torn South Sudan without a meaningful opportunity to contest their removal to a place where they might face torture, a federal judge said Wednesday. Eight detainees of various nationalities

By Natasha Bertrand, CNN (CNN) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar that President Donald Trump will use once the Pentagon upgrades it to include “proper security measures and functional-mission requirements,” according to a Defense Department spokesperson. “The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in

By Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — Amid growing concerns within the Federal Emergency Management Agency that internal turmoil has left it unprepared for the fast-approaching hurricane season, the agency is taking significant steps to bolster its disaster response workforce and training infrastructure. In a series of internal memos issued this week and obtained by CNN,

By David Wright, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump Jr. teased a future run for the presidency during an appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum on Wednesday, saying “that calling is there” when asked if he would “consider picking up the reins” and “run for office” when his father, President Donald Trump, leaves the White House.

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance called Chief Justice John Roberts’ comments earlier this month that the judiciary’s role is to check the executive branch a “profoundly wrong sentiment” and said the courts should be “deferential” to the president, particularly when it comes to immigration. “I thought that was a profoundly

By John Fritze and Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to step into a fight over whether the Department of Government Efficiency must turn over public documents – like other government agencies – or whether it is shielded from such requests because it is part of the

By Lauren Chadwick and Shania Shelton, CNN (CNN) — Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died Wednesday morning at his home, according to a statement from his family. He was 75. “We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion. His

By Annie Grayer and Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration significantly cut funding for flood prevention projects in blue states across the country while creating new water construction opportunities in red states, undoing a Biden-era budget proposal that would have allocated money more evenly, according to a data analysis prepared by Democratic staffers.

By Sarah Ferris and Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — As President Donald Trump attempts to muscle his GOP agenda through a narrow House majority, Rep. Chip Roy is perhaps the most important holdout to win over. He may also be the toughest. Speaker Mike Johnson and his team have been confident they can pass Trump’s

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — House Republicans are pushing to slash nearly $1 trillion from two of the nation’s bedrock safety net programs, Medicaid and food stamps, as part of their sweeping package aimed at enacting President Donald Trump’s agenda. If the legislation is approved, millions of Americans could lose access to these benefits

By Kylie Atwood and Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — The US has been talking with Hamas through an American intermediary in Doha this week in hopes of brokering an Israel-Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to a source familiar with the matter, as US officials say President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with Israel’s handling of

By Jessie Yeung and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has laid out new details of his ambitious plan for a multibillion-dollar “Golden Dome” missile defense system to protect the United States from foreign attacks, saying it should be complete before he leaves office. “We’ll have it done in three years,” Trump told