National Politics

By Manu Raju and Clare Foran, CNN Sen. Joe Manchin, a key Democratic swing vote, would not commit on Wednesday to backing an infrastructure package along straight party lines, rebuffing a demand made by liberals who want to ensure he will be on board with a broader bill passed without Republican support if they support

By Manu Raju and Alex Rogers, CNN Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia met with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday, as she considers whether to wage a rematch against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock next year when he runs for a full six-year term. “I haven’t ruled it out,” Loeffler told CNN. Asked why

By Chandelis Duster, CNN The Education Department on Wednesday issued guidance that Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, a reversal of the Trump administration’s stance that gay and transgender students are not protected by the law. “The Supreme Court has upheld the right for LGBTQ+ people to live and work

By Jasmine Wright and Jason Hoffman, CNN Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that all American citizens should have the unequivocal right to vote during a high-profile meeting with nearly two dozen Democratic Texas state legislators who succeeded in killing a Republican election overhaul bill last month. Harris criticized Senate Bill 7, and similar

By Annie Grayer and Daniella Diaz, CNN The House is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation that would establish June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The bill is expected to pass the House after the Senate unanimously passed the legislation Tuesday.

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN Nearly one in three local election officials included in a new survey say they feel unsafe because of their jobs, part of a report released Wednesday that highlights threats to America’s election workforce in the ugly aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. And about one in six election workers who responded

CNN’s Brianna Keilar and John Berman roll the tape on the 21 Republicans who had previously expressed their public support for police and voted against awarding the Capitol police a Congressional Gold Medal for protecting the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.

By Chandelis Duster, CNN Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has apologized for calling children with intellectual disabilities “retarded” after receiving criticism for using the term, which is medically outdated and long been considered offensive. Responding to a question during a virtual podcast with OneNYCHA on what Congress is doing to combat homelessness exacerbated by the

CNN anchors react to the photo op with President Biden and President Putin as they begin their meeting in Geneva.

By Maegan Vazquez and Kevin Liptak, CNN A physical altercation broke out Wednesday at the start of President Joe Biden’s first summit with his Russian counterpart as reporters from each country shoved each other, and security, in their attempts to access the sole joint photo-op of the talks. The moments of chaos were a minor

By Raja Razek, CNN Two Fort Hood active-duty soldiers have been charged with attempting to smuggle two undocumented Mexican citizens into Texas and could face up to 10 years in federal prison, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Emmanuel Oppongagyare and Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie were both wearing their full

By Jasmine Wright and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN Vice President Kamala Harris held a private dinner Tuesday night for the female US senators, a show of bipartisanship among a deeply divided Congress. It was the first known time that Harris hosted lawmakers in the vice-presidential residence at the Naval Observatory since moving in April, a process

By Daniel Dale Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, known for her outspoken right-wing views, tweeted last week: “The same liberals that legalized knowingly spreading HIV are now pushing Americans to take COVID tests or show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants. No. We’re not playing your games.” Facts First: Boebert’s claim about liberals legalizing knowingly

By Joan Biskupic, CNN legal analyst & Supreme Court biographer Every day another voice adds to the groundswell of pressure on 82-year-old Justice Stephen Breyer to retire when the annual Supreme Court session ends in a few weeks. But implicit in the comments, such as Sen. Mitch McConnell’s warning this week that he may block

By Kevin Liptak and Phil Mattingly, CNN President Joe Biden said he had raised human rights and cyberattacks during a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that provided an early and critical test of his diplomatic skills in the highest-stakes talks of his long career. Both Biden and Putin afterward described the three-hour-long summit

Fiona Hill, former President Trump’s top Russia adviser, talks to CNN’s Don Lemon about the summit with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018.

By Paul LeBlanc Fiona Hill, once then-President Donald Trump’s top Russia adviser, said Tuesday evening that she was so alarmed during Trump’s 2018 press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin that she had looked for a fire alarm to pull and considered faking a medical emergency. “I just thought, let’s cut this off and try

By Michael Warren Alabama pastor Ed Litton will be the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention following a narrow election win Tuesday — a victory for the more moderate establishment against a conservative insurgency in an ongoing fight within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. The vote comes as the SBC has been grappling with

By Katie Bo Williams and Zachary Cohen, CNN Members of the House Intelligence Committee will receive a classified briefing on Wednesday morning on one of the most controversial topics circulating in Washington today: UFOs. The briefing, which was confirmed to CNN by two sources familiar with the committee’s plans, comes just weeks before the US

By Gregory Wallace, CNN A federal court blocked, for now, the Biden administration’s pause on oil and gas leasing. The preliminary injunction issued Tuesday comes as a blow to one of the administration’s key actions to address climate change. The court sided with more than a dozen states that sued after President Joe Biden directed