National Politics

By Ellis Kim, CNN (CNN) — Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic Party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, giving a high-profile platform to the Virginia governor. Democratic congressional leaders are tapping a recent history-maker who became the Commonwealth’s first female governor in January. Prior to that, she served

By Brian Todd, CNN (CNN) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is halting enforcement of a new rule for determining disability payments after veterans across the US expressed outrage for what they said would likely reduce benefits for many. The rule said a veteran’s disability level would be based on how well they function while

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — A large banner of Donald Trump was hung outside of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, DC, on Thursday, emphasizing the White House’s control over the nation’s top law enforcement branch that once pursued criminal prosecutions against the president. The image of Trump in shades of blue is a

By Kaanita Iyer, Haley Britzky, CNN (CNN) — A controversial pastor who supports repealing women’s right to vote and believes homosexuality should be a crime led a worship service at the Pentagon this week, saying he was invited by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. During a 15-minute sermon in the Pentagon’s auditorium and broadcast live on

By Devan Cole, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge in Minnesota held a Trump administration attorney in civil contempt for “flagrant disobedience of court orders” in the case of a noncitizen swept up in the immigration crackdown there earlier this year. The contempt finding by US District Judge Laura Provinzino on Wednesday appears

By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN (CNN) — The Commission of Fine Arts fast-tracked approval for President Donald Trump’s East Wing renovation plans Thursday, bringing the president’s quest for a new ballroom one step closer to reality. In a unusual move, the committee, an independent federal agency that advises the president and Congress on design plans for

By Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt arrived in Washington this week with invitations to two White House meetings from an angry President Donald Trump. Trump and Stitt, chair of the National Governors Association, were at odds over whether all the nation’s governors should be invited to the White House for what’s

By Matthew Rehbein, CNN (CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security is broadening federal immigration authorities’ ability to detain legal refugees who have not yet obtained green cards, citing national security concerns and the need to ensure refugees undergo additional screening, according to a DHS memo obtained by CNN. Immigration officers may “arrest and detain”

By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump is preparing to make health care a central focus of his midterm sales pitch, despite weak polling and misgivings among some of his own advisers about elevating an issue that’s long proved disastrous for the Republican Party. The approach developed by Trump and his senior aides

By Kristen Holmes, Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — The US military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend, though President Donald Trump has yet to make a final decision on whether he’ll authorize such actions, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. The White House has been briefed that the military could

By Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, CNN (CNN) — When President Donald Trump convenes the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday, he is expected to run it like one of his Cabinet meetings, a US official told CNN. Instead of his Cabinet officials, however, he will be joined by representatives from countries like

By Gabe Cohen, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration has ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-torn areas around the US while the Department of Homeland Security is shut down, according to sources and internal messages obtained by CNN. The new edict comes even though

By Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — As Florida prepares to rename the Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump, a recent trademark filing has some state lawmakers wondering if the Trump family is looking to profit. The bill to rename the south Florida hub after Trump has now passed the Legislature and now awaits

By Arlette Saenz, CNN (CNN) — In Texas, a pair of US Senate primaries set for next month have emerged as an early gauge of where the energy is in both political parties and sparked a sharp debate over what it will take to win the reliably Republican state in November. With early voting now