National Politics

By Betsy Klein, CNN (CNN) — First lady Melania Trump hosted representatives from the highest levels of Russia’s and Ukraine’s governments at the White House on Thursday to celebrate the conclusion of a localized ceasefire — a humanitarian breakthrough, albeit limited, that came as President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war have so

By Logan Schiciano and Eric Bradner, CNN (CNN) — Democratic socialist Nithya Raman will defeat incumbent Karen Bass in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, CNN’s Decision Desk projects. Raman, a city councilmember, overtook Republican Spencer Pratt in June’s nonpartisan primary to set up what was arguably a tougher race for Bass, a Democratic former congresswoman.

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, CNN (CNN) — Harmeet Dhillon has resigned from her post as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, making her the first senior official to leave the administration since the midterms. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced her resignation in a social media post, saying that she has “led

By Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN (CNN) — The coalition that helped return Donald Trump to the presidency two years ago is beginning to fracture, CNN Voter Poll data shows, with Democratic Senate candidates peeling away voters to win seats in deeply Republican territory this cycle. In five races won by Democrats in states where Trump voters

By Sunlen Serfaty, Isabelle Khurshudyan, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge has blocked construction of President Donald Trump’s triumphal arch for 14 days after a final vote approving the structure passed late Thursday despite fierce opposition from citizens who voiced concern during a marathon public hearing. The National Capital Planning Commission, one of two federal

By Steve Contorno, CNN (CNN) — Vice President JD Vance’s seemingly straightforward path to succeeding President Donald Trump suddenly looks much murkier. The Republican shellacking in Tuesday’s midterm elections has quickly triggered a public reckoning within the GOP over Trump’s place in the future of the party — one that threatens to complicate Vance’s efforts

By John Fritze, CNN (CNN) — The Democratic rout in Tuesday’s midterm elections sparked an immediate sense of unease on the right about the future of the Supreme Court and a new round of Republican anxiety over decisions by Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas to stick it out rather than step down. Multiple sources

By Adam Cancryn, Sarah Ferris, Zachary Cohen, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump may have made the decision to launch the war that tanked voters’ support for the GOP and dealt them a midterm shellacking. But the historic losses are accelerating a push for someone else to take the fall: Defense Secretary Pete

By Fredreka Schouten, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — An unpopular president, a charismatic Democratic candidate and an incumbent who has underperformed other Republicans in recent elections have turned a US Senate race in Mississippi into the nail-biter of the midterms. As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrat Scott Colom was just a few dozen votes ahead of

By Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump, resoundingly rejected by voters on Tuesday night, is entering the final phase of his elected career wounded but newly determined to retain an iron grip on power. The concluding years of his presidency will be frustrating ones, many of his allies admit,

By Patrick Svitek, CNN (CNN) — For decades, Texas Democrats have dreamt of turning the state blue, rallying around exciting candidates who drew big crowds and big money but could not ultimately overcome the state’s stubborn conservative majority. On Tuesday, their dream finally came true – and in dramatic fashion. Not only did Democrats win

By Kevin Liptak, CNN (CNN) — By the time the House and Senate had been called for Democrats on Tuesday, a consensus among members of both parties was forming: voters had rejected President Donald Trump’s record in office, and he would face a starkly different political reality for the remainder of his term. Trump, however,

By Jeremy Herb, Fredreka Schouten, Gabe Cohen, Tierney Sneed, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration’s unprecedented crusade to hunt for voter fraud spurred widespread fears of federal election interference but ultimately never materialized on Election Day – thanks to resistance from local election officials and federal courts. In what quickly became a wave election for

By Aleena Fayaz, CNN (CNN) — Winners up and down the 2026 ballot will make history this year, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, including the first Black woman governor, the first Muslim elected to the US Senate and the first out gay male US senator. As President Donald Trump takes on the latter half of his

By Adam Cancryn, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump was in the midst of his fourth political rally in three days when he asked a close associate the question that had been troubling him for some time: How did the Republican Party get in this bad of shape? It was mid-October, and with just weeks

By Dianne Gallagher, CNN (CNN) — In a stunning upset in typically reliably Republican South Carolina, CNN’s Decision Desk is projecting that Democrat Annie Andrews will defeat President Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate Sen. Darline Graham. Andrews is flipping a seat Republicans have held for nearly three decades and a state that voted for Trump by

By Eric Bradner Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek will flip Iowa’s open Senate seat, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, defeating GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson and renewing the state’s battleground status. The two were vying to replace retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in a state that had been competitive until recently, but where the GOP had dominated

By Lauren Fox Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown will return to the US Senate after unseating Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, giving his party a major win in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate contests. Brown’s victory marks a major political comeback in a state that has reliably