National Politics

By John King, CNN Kellerton, Iowa (CNN) — Shanen Ebersole believes if people better understood her life they would better understand her unapologetic vote for Donald Trump. “The majority of people who voted for Trump are not the far-right crazies,” Ebersole said in an interview. “That is not who we are. We are simple Americans

CNN By John King, CNN Kellerton, Iowa (CNN) — Shanen Ebersole believes if people better understood her life they would better understand her unapologetic vote for Donald Trump. “The majority of people who voted for Trump are not the far-right crazies,” Ebersole said in an interview. “That is not who we are. We are simple

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz is quietly urging GOP senators to give him a chance to prove himself suitable to be attorney general amid growing calls from top Republicans to access a House Ethics Committee report expected to detail allegations of sexual misconduct involving the

By Kayla Tausche and Kevin Liptak, CNN Rio de Janeiro (CNN) — A major decision by the United States to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles deeper inside Russian territory has complicated a potential western diplomatic thaw with Russia as dozens of world leaders gather this week. Sunday’s decision was viewed by many western leaders

By Paula Reid, Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb and Lauren del Valle, CNN (CNN) — The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday it would agree to postpone Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case to give prosecutors time to litigate the president-elect’s expected motion to dismiss the case. In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan,

By Kevin Liptak and Kayla Tausche, CNN Rio de Janeiro (CNN) — President Joe Biden’s exit from the world stage this week was less of a dramatic mic drop and more of a slow fade from view, a low-key conclusion to a lengthy foreign policy career whose legacy is now under threat by Donald Trump.

By Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann, CNN (CNN) — China rejected a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a conference in southeast Asia this week, marking the latest turn in a tumultuous relationship between the two countries’ defense leaders. Austin sought to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, at the ASEAN Defense Ministers’

By Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins and Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump announced Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as his pick for secretary of the Department of Commerce on Tuesday, selecting his transition co-chair for a key role in an administration that the president-elect has promised will enact sweeping tariffs. “He will lead our

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Attorney General Merrick Garland, nearing the end of his tenure leading the Justice Department, told career prosecutors Monday that they are the “backbone” of the Justice Department and urged them to continue to “uphold the rule of law.” In his first public comments since President-elect Donald

By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN (CNN) — The former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who was fired earlier this month after being accused of skipping homes of Donald Trump supporters while providing relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton told CNN on Monday night that she was simply following FEMA protocol. “What I’d like for the

CNN By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN (CNN) — The former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee who was fired earlier this month after being accused of skipping homes of Donald Trump supporters while providing relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton told CNN on Monday night that she was simply following FEMA protocol. “What I’d like for

By Sarah Ferris and Annie Grayer, CNN (CNN) — Hakeem Jeffries nearly became House speaker. Instead, he’s steering the Democratic Party through an identity crisis and hoping to avoid an ugly intraparty civil war. Even without the gavel, many Democrats across Washington say House Minority Leader Jeffries — a 54-year-old New Yorker with centrist roots

By Morgan Rimmer, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot, CNN (CNN) — A House Republican is pushing to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms at the US Capitol, two weeks after history was made with the election of America’s first out transgender person to Congress. South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace on Monday introduced a resolution to

By Tierney Sneed and Paula Reid, CNN (CNN) — Two women testified to the House Ethics Committee that they were paid for “sexual favors” by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, a lawyer for the two women told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday. Additionally, one of the women testified to

By Kristen Holmes, Annie Grayer, Sarah Ferris and Manu Raju, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump is doubling down on his efforts to ensure former Rep. Matt Gaetz is confirmed as attorney general, calling some senators directly to discuss the Florida Republican and ask for their support, two sources familiar with the outreach told CNN.

By Arit John and Sarah Ferris, CNN (CNN) — Just two weeks after a bruising presidential election, the race to lead the Democratic Party has begun in earnest, with Minnesota Democratic party chair Ken Martin and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley entering the race this week. Martin and O’Malley have kicked off a roughly three-month

By Kate Sullivan and Alexandra Skores, CNN (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he has selected former congressman and recent Fox Business co-host Sean Duffy to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Transportation. Duffy served in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, representing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. He