Politics

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Jamie Gangel and Katie Bo Lillis, CNN (CNN) — Ever since news broke on Monday that top Trump officials discussed US military attack plans in a group chat that inadvertently included a journalist, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has projected unflinching confidence. “I know exactly what I’m doing,” Hegseth told reporters

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has terminated a majority of its funding for a key Syrian civil and humanitarian organization, the White Helmets, according to internal documents and the organization. The funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for the White Helmets’ firefighting, search and rescue, and community resilience

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Federal law enforcement officers captured an alleged “major leader” of the MS-13 gang Thursday morning, President Donald Trump said on social media. “Just captured a major leader of MS13,” he wrote. The alleged 24-year-old gang member, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday in Prince

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN (CNN) — ActBlue, a fundraising juggernaut for liberal candidates and causes, is facing stepped-up scrutiny and criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill and allies of President Donald Trump – as the GOP flexes its new power in Washington and targets one of the key pillars of the Democratic Party’s financial infrastructure.

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — The fear and loathing among lawyers in Washington, DC, has never been greater. After a series of White House executive orders threatening their business and hiring practices, several powerful Washington law firms face a defining choice: push back publicly in defense of their industry or quietly hope to avoid

By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — The Social Security Administration announced Wednesday that it is pushing back the rollout of a controversial anti-fraud measure by two weeks and reducing the number of applicants it will affect. It’s the latest backtrack at the agency, which is in turmoil amid a massive reorganization spurred by the Department

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge sharply rejected a Trump administration request that she recuse herself from a case challenging an executive order targeting Democratic-tied law firm Perkins Coie, accusing the Justice Department of attacking the messenger because it could not attack the message. “When the U.S. Department of Justice engages in

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — A divided federal appeals court has maintained a temporary block on President Donald Trump’s ability to use the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 on Wednesday that a pair of lower-court orders blocking Trump’s

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court appeared sympathetic Wednesday to a series of programs geared toward expanding high-speed internet in rural and poor communities, despite a challenge from a conservative group claiming funding for that effort violates separation of powers principles. After nearly three hours of argument, several of the court’s conservatives

CNN By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Betsy Klein and Shania Shelton, CNN Washington (CNN) — The information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed in the Signal chat of top Trump national security officials was highly classified at the time he wrote it, especially because the operation had not even started yet, according to a US defense

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to allow it to freeze millions of dollars in grants to states for addressing teacher shortages over allegations that the money was being used on programs that take part in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The case is the

By Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — As Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem vows to “eliminate FEMA,” the agency is in turmoil, with disaster assistance, grant money, and hiring largely stalled, threatening its ability to respond to major disasters, multiple FEMA officials tell CNN. Top officials from FEMA and Department of Homeland Security met Tuesday, CNN

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The Justice Department is evaluating whether to defend the federal government’s restrictions on gun silencers that have been in place since the 1930s as part of President Donald Trump’s order to reconsider positions that could limit gun rights. Silencers, also called suppressors, are tube-shaped devices that, when screwed into

CNN By Kevin Liptak, Alayna Treene and Jeff Zeleny, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump not only stood by his embattled national security adviser on Tuesday, amid fever-pitch conversations about Mike Waltz’s fate in the wake of an extraordinary security breach; he invited him for a seat at the table in the Cabinet Room