National Politics

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has directed the US Navy to scrap the modern electromagnetic launch system on an upcoming aircraft carrier and instead revert to an older, steam-powered catapult method — potentially adding billions to its price tag and delaying its deployment into the late 2030s. The directive, outlined in

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed claims that families of service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have concerns about conditions aboard the aircraft carrier, which has been deployed for nearly nine months supporting operations in the Middle East. Instead, Trump claimed the ship’s lengthy deployment had in fact

By Devan Cole, Tierney Sneed, Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to build a ballroom at the White House, citing previous threats to Trump’s life, national security needs and architectural values. The emergency request filed Friday comes after lower courts repeatedly ruled that Trump needed

By Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — After years of battling fellow Republicans and helping lead the culture wars in Texas, Ken Paxton is campaigning on tax deductions, appearing with state lawmakers who once voted to impeach him, and openly appealing to the Washington establishment for financial help. It’s all part of Paxton’s efforts to unify

By Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Confusion has ensued after the Justice Department decided to, at least for now, not challenge a federal court ruling that struck down federal registration requirements for firearm suppressors, short-barreled rifles and other weapons. The August 5 ruling from the US District Court in the Northern District of Texas is

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge gave a chilling warning to Justice Department lawyers fighting the further releases of documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein: If they don’t comply with court orders, contempt proceedings could ruin their futures. Judge Emmet Sullivan of the DC District Court has demanded answers from the Justice Department

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is enlisting private companies to conduct cyberattacks on foreign cybercriminals in a major policy shift that experts say could come with legal risk for the companies. The move gives vetted companies a prominent role in hacking operations that have historically been the dominion of US law

By Kit Maher, Holmes Lybrand, Katelyn Polantz, CNN (CNN) — A woman has been arrested and charged for vandalizing the World War II memorial in Washington, DC. Melissa L. Farris made her first appearance on the felony charges in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday. The Justice Department wants to keep Farris detained as

By Kevin Liptak, Alayna Treene, Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — By the time President Donald Trump walked onstage at the end of last month’s NATO summit in Turkey, the plan to spirit him out of the country was already in motion. Earlier that day, American officials had come to the president with alarming information. The

By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s handpicked board of the Kennedy Center has voted a second time to close the performing arts institution for a two-year renovation, according to two people who were briefed on the decision. The board on Thursday also voted to add an inscription below the Kennedy Center’s sign,

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — In his inaugural address to the Justice Department workforce on Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche pledged to make the department “more faithful to its highest ideals than when I found it.” Blanche’s speech, delivered in the great hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, was meant

By Brian Todd, Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — A month after House Republicans failed to pass a veterans health bill, lawmakers are meeting behind closed doors to try to get the legislation back on track. But there’s one key person they haven’t invited to the table: Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. Collins and his team

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration abruptly declined to renew a contract for a cybersecurity firm it hired to examine voting equipment in Puerto Rico after the company didn’t echo administration officials’ false claims of voter fraud, the firm’s executives said in their first extensive public remarks on the episode. After hearing

KFMB, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, UNITED STATES NAVY, CNN By Pamela Brown, Ross Adkin, CNN (CNN) — A sailor went overboard earlier this month off of the USS Abraham Lincoln, three US officials told CNN, amid reports of worsening mental health for crew members on the ship during an extended deployment for the Iran

By Pamela Brown, Ross Adkin, CNN (CNN) — A sailor went overboard earlier this month off of the USS Abraham Lincoln, three US officials told CNN, amid reports of worsening mental health for crew members on the ship during an extended deployment for the Iran war. The sailor was rescued within an hour, according to

By Eric Bradner, Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — One month after he suspended his campaign, David Crowley’s victory in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor on Tuesday marked an astonishing turn around. When the Milwaukee County executive re-entered the race 10 days after he exited it, democratic socialist state lawmaker Francesca Hong’s momentum seemed near insurmountable.

By Betsy Klein, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her role at the end of August, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. The imminent departure of one of the president’s closest allies inside the White House marks a major shakeup for the president’s press operation, with less than three

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, CNN (CNN) — A former employee of the Southern Poverty Law Center has been arrested in California on charges that she oversaw secret payments to informants inside of White supremacist groups, one of whom she was allegedly living with and had a romantic relationship with at the time. The woman,

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN (CNN) — A Washington, DC, judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to pay a jazz artist’s legal fees after the performing arts institution sued him for canceling his performance over the addition of President Donald Trump’s name to the venue. On Monday, Judge Tanya M. Jones Bosier awarded performer Chuck Redd