Politics

By Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny and Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is now leading a sweeping effort to reshape the federal government, offered the most sustained defense of his far-reaching moves during a question-and-answer session in the Oval Office late Tuesday. As President Donald Trump watched from his

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The inspector general of the US Agency for International Development was fired on Tuesday, a day after his office released a report critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Paul Martin was informed by an email from the

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is alleging that Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, is “personally directing the ongoing purge” of bureau employees. In a letter to the Justice Department’s inspector general Tuesday, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said that he had received

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen and Alex Marquardt, CNN (CNN) — New US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to assume the role of backseat driver in his first in person meeting with European counterparts on Wednesday as the new Trump administration works to shift responsibility for Ukrainian and European security squarely to NATO and

By Sarah Ferris, CNN Washington (CNN) — As Rep. Nancy Mace prepared to speak, she took out a Bible and — as if she were in a courtroom, instead of on the House floor — she placed her right hand and swore to tell the “whole truth.” The South Carolina congresswoman then delivered a damning

CNN By Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — Congressional Republicans are publicly projecting that they’re in lockstep with the way President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are attempting to slash the federal workforce. But under the surface, some GOP lawmakers are growing concerned by the effort to usurp Congress’ control of the federal purse strings.

By Priscilla Alvarez and Gloria Pazmino, CNN (CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it fired four Federal Emergency Management Agency officials over payments provided to New York City to house migrants, arguing without evidence that the officials circumvented leadership. The firings come after Elon Musk, who’s running President Donald Trump’s Department

By Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed and Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — Among dozens of court cases challenging President Donald Trump’s policies, one case this week has moved faster than most. In less than 24 hours, the American medical community and dozens of universities secured an early win in blocking the Trump administration’s effort to cut

CNN By Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed and Jeremy Herb, CNN (CNN) — Among dozens of court cases challenging President Donald Trump’s policies, one case this week has moved faster than most. In less than 24 hours, the American medical community and dozens of universities secured an early win in blocking the Trump administration’s effort to

By Kit Maher, Jennifer Hansler and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, was welcomed back to the US by President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after the White House secured his release in an “exchange.” Fogel arrived at the White House late

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore certain public health webpages and datasets that federal health agencies had wiped from the internet in recent days. The new temporary restraining order from Judge John Bates came in a legal challenge brought by a doctors’ group that

By Kara Scannell, CNN New York (CNN) — Conservative firebrand Steve Bannon pleaded guilty to defrauding donors in a fundraising effort to build a wall along the southern US border in a deal that allowed him to avoid prison. Bannon pleaded guilty to one state felony count of a scheme to defraud in the first

By Veronica Stracqualursi and Jamie Gangel, CNN Washington (CNN) — The FBI has discovered about 2,400 new records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy from a new records search following an executive order from President Donald Trump. The FBI said in a statement Monday that it performed a new search of records

By Katelyn Polantz and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration’s effort to cut back on federal funding for the National Institutes of Health for research programs at universities and medical systems has been blocked nationwide. On Monday, lawyers representing dozens of research institutions told Judge Angel Kelley of the federal district court of

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Paula Reid and Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — On January 6, 2021, Emil Bove sat in lower Manhattan, watching on television as a pro-Trump mob invaded the US Capitol, violently attacking police and temporarily causing Congress to suspend its certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Bove at the time helped

By Annie Grayer, CNN Washington (CNN) — Congressional Republicans are publicly projecting that they’re in lockstep with the way President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are attempting to slash the federal workforce. But under the surface, some GOP lawmakers are growing concerned by the effort to usurp Congress’ control of the federal purse strings. And

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump made no attempt Tuesday to soften his proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza and redevelop the land into premium housing, even as his guest in the Oval Office, King Abdullah II of Jordan, suggested the Arab world was opposed. Trump repeated his view that Palestinians should

By Kasie Hunt, CNN Washington (CNN) — The Trump White House is demanding that government workers hunt for words like “immigrant” and “diversity” in billions of dollars worth of federal contracts with American companies to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, raising concerns among staff that the contracts could modified or voided. On Friday night, workers at

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is bringing the name Bragg back to one of the Army’s largest bases, Fort Liberty, which replaced the namesake of a Confederate general in 2023. But in a memorandum signed Monday, Hegseth instructed the Army to rename the North Carolina military installation in