National Politics

By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration on Friday abruptly halted services for refugees in the United States, including Afghans, according to a memo obtained by CNN, stunning agencies that provide critical support to recent arrivals. It’s a sweeping move that prompted a scramble as refugee advocates tried to interpret the order. The

By Morgan Rimmer, Ted Barrett and Manu Raju, CNN (CNN) — The Senate narrowly voted to confirm embattled Pete Hegseth as secretary of the Department of Defense, in a major win for President Donald Trump and his new administration. Vice President JD Vance cast the 51-50 tie-breaking vote after former GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — Federal agencies have been told to move to terminate “to the maximum extent allowed by law, all federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions” within 60 days, according to a US Office of Personnel Management memo dated Friday. Agencies have until January 31

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The State Department has suspended processing passport applications seeking the gender marker of “X” and will only process and issue passports for people identifying as male or female, according to a department spokesperson. The move aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday that says

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN (CNN) — The US State Department has frozen nearly all foreign assistance worldwide effective immediately days after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such assistance for 90 days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a cable, seen by CNN, to all US diplomatic

By Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — Several members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, cannot enter Washington, DC, or the grounds of the US Capitol without first receiving court permission, a federal judge said Friday, days after President Donald Trump commuted their prison sentences. The brief order from US District Judge Amit Mehta

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether states may reject religious charter schools from receiving public funding, agreeing to hear arguments in an appeal out of Oklahoma involving the first such school in the nation. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School applied last year to take part

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon virtually every convicted rioter at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those who beat up members of law enforcement. Without mentioning him by name, Kemp condemned Trump’s broad pardons while also taking a swipe at

By Katelyn Polantz and Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — High-profile January 6 rioter Guy Reffitt showed up in Washington, DC, on Wednesday to celebrate with his wife and supporters who’d been hoping for his release from federal detention for months. But he should not have been walking free — even after President Donald Trump on

By Curt Merrill and Amy O’Kruk, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s second term is off and running with cascade of executive actions signed in his first week and more promised in the days and weeks to come. Trump has vowed to enact a sweeping agenda and reshape the federal government, saying in his inaugural

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN (CNN) — Until hours before California Gov. Gavin Newsom greeted President Donald Trump with a bro-hug on the Los Angeles tarmac Friday, his advisers had spent the week monitoring new White House advance staffers’ social media accounts, hoping for clues for where Trump was going to talk about the wildfire damage.

By Kaitlan Collins, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has terminated Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security detail that was being provided and paid for by the National Institutes of Health, a source familiar with the situation tells CNN. It was pulled on Thursday night. Given he continues to face ongoing threats due to his public-facing role

CNN By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Friday is visiting North Carolina — a state he said “has been abandoned by the Democrats” as it rebuilds from Hurricane Helene’s flooding — with questions about disaster relief taking center stage in his first days back in office. Trump will then travel to

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — Jen Baddour volunteered as a poll greeter on University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill campus during November’s election, where a bell was rung at the polling site for anyone voting for the first time. She told young voters there, “Listen, you’re not going to see or hear the fireworks

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump suggested he might eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday during a trip to tour damage from Hurricane Helene flooding in North Carolina, a state he’s said “has been abandoned by the Democrats.” Trump’s comments came as he’s also traveling to California, where wildfires have

CNN By Alayna Treene, Kaitlan Collins and Jamie Gangel, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has revoked the security detail for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had received ongoing protection due to threats from Iran after taking a hardline policy toward the country during Trump’s first administration, three sources familiar with the

By Omar Jimenez and Devan Cole, CNN (CNN) — One day after the Trump administration injected fresh uncertainty into the fate of Justice Department agreements aimed at reforming local police departments with histories of misconduct and abuse, city leaders in in Minneapolis and Louisville pledged to follow through with agreed-upon reforms no matter what. “It’s

By Manu Raju, Pamela Brown and Kaanita Iyer, CNN Washington (CNN) — Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he paid $50,000 as part of a confidentiality agreement to a woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her, according to documents obtained by CNN. In a