National Politics

By Tami Luhby, Adam Cancryn, Meg Tirrell, CNN (CNN) — In his latest effort to lower drug costs, President Donald Trump unveiled Friday “Most Favored Nation” pricing deals with nine more pharmaceutical companies. The president also announced he would call a meeting next week or early January with health insurers to push them to lower

By Kaanita Iyer, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN (CNN) — The State Department is indefinitely pausing a visa program intended to admit certain individuals to the United States, known as the diversity visa program. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has “indefinitely paused the issuance of diversity visas until we can be sure we know exactly who we

By Kaanita Iyer, Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — New signage was installed Friday at Washington, DC’s performing arts center on Friday to include President Donald Trump’s name. It comes after the institution’s board of trustees voted a day earlier to rename the facility to honor the president. The building, known as the John F. Kennedy

By Annie Grayer, MJ Lee, CNN (CNN) — A number of Jeffrey Epstein survivors voiced their concern in a private meeting with female Democratic lawmakers earlier this week about the intermittent disclosure of Epstein-related documents and photos by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, sharing that the selective publication of materials was distressing, four sources

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN (CNN) — The US military conducted strikes against two alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing 5 people, according to US Southern Command. At least 104 people have now been killed in US strikes on alleged drug boats, and Thursday’s attack marks the third this week.

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday the White House will host the “Patriot Games,” a competition with young athletes from across the county, as part of the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary next year. “In the fall, we will host the first ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day

By Edward-Isaac Dovere, Gloria Pazmino, CNN New York (CNN) — With under two weeks to go before he’s sworn in, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has not announced many hires for his administration. One of the few that he has announced was forced to almost immediately resign Thursday after her past antisemitic tweets came

By Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Frustration is mounting inside the Justice Department as it races to redact thousands of pages of files related to Jeffrey Epstein before they must be released Friday, multiple sources familiar with the process told CNN. A substantial number of redactions are needed, one of the sources said,

By Camila DeChalus, Ellis Kim, CNN (CNN) — The GOP-controlled House passed a bill that would block Medicaid funds from being used for gender identity care to minors. The measure, sponsored by Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw, passed by a vote of 215 to 201 with four Democrats voting in favor. It’s the second bill passed

By Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge ruled Thursday that two entities that implement policy and conduct administrative tasks for the judicial branch are not required under a transparency law to turn over their communications to a private legal group aligned with President Donald Trump. The opinion by Judge Trevor McFadden came in

By Kit Maher, Steve Contorno, Sarah Owermohle, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to expedite the reclassification of marijuana – an effort to increase research on its medical use but not fully legalize it. “This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana-related medical research, allowing us to

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — The board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted Thursday to rename the facility after both the former president and President Donald Trump. “The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to name the institution The Donald J. Trump and The John

By David Wright, CNN (CNN) — The Democratic National Committee said Thursday that it would not release a highly anticipated “autopsy” of the 2024 election, a decision aimed at unifying the party that also sidesteps uncomfortable and lasting divisions over its loss to President Donald Trump. DNC Chair Ken Martin issued a statement on the

By Casey Gannon, CNN (CNN) — Former special counsel Jack Smith did not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during eight hours of testimony Wednesday behind closed doors to the House Judiciary Committee, the panel’s chairman said. “He did not take the Fifth like some of his deputies did,” Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said on