CNN Politics

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has placed a hold on a senior Treasury Department nominee in a bid to pry loose financial documents tied to Russia.

Our weekly roundup of the news, notes and chatter about the prospects for the next Democratic presidential race:

The Health and Human Services inspector general has begun an inquiry into Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price's use of private jets for government business, saying questions have arisen about potentially "inappropriate travel."

Facebook and its competitor social networks are part of a largely unregulated Wild West of political spending; some changes are on the way, but time is running out before the next election.

Although President Donald Trump insists otherwise, most Americans say it's likely that Russian-backed content on social media did affect the outcome of the 2016 election, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Students at Howard University loudly protested former FBI Director James Comey Friday as he delivered a convocation address.

Before most people were awake this morning, the President of the United States was tweeting. About Russia. And Hillary Clinton. And the news media.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has been taking a lot of private jets to get from here to there of late. Two dozen since early May at a cost of more than $300,000 to be exact, according to the fabulous reporting by Politico's Rachana Pradhan and Dan Diamond.

Errors by the cockpit crew caused a plane carrying then-vice presidential candidate Mike Pence to skid off a New York runway last fall, the National Transportation Safety Board has concluded.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had some choice words for US President Donald Trump Friday, accusing the American leader of "mentally deranged behavior."

Quiet is good.

The US Marine Corps is gearing up for the graduation of its first-ever female infantry officer.

Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile on Friday, as the country's president stepped up the pressure on the US by defending its right to strengthen military defenses.

Sen. Chuck Grassley is asking the FBI if it warned Donald Trump that Paul Manafort, whom he brought in as campaign chairman in 2016, was being watched by the agency because of his dealings with pro-Kremlin figures.

Toy gun grasped firmly in his hand and a grin plastered wide across his face while he played "Big Buck Hunter Pro," Ryan Zinke could have been a kid at an arcade. But the Interior secretary and former congressman was actually in the department cafeteria showing off a the arcade game installed to commemorate hunting season.

Senate Republicans continue to push forward on a plan to hold a vote sometime next week on legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The bill, which is sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, still lacks the 50 votes it needs -- although Graham this week expressed confidence that they would get there.

President Donald Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a "madman" Friday morning, the latest escalation in their combative rhetoric.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says President Donald Trump's remarks to the United Nations threatening the hermit country reflect "mentally deranged behavior," according to a statement released by North Korea's news agency, KCNA.

As the deadline to pass their health care plan looms, Capitol Hill Republicans are looking anxiously to Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The Alaska senator was one of three in her party to vote against legislation to dismantle Obamacare during the GOP's last attempts, and could again decide the fate of her party's latest repeal-and-replace effort.

Hip-hop had been tackling racism, police brutality and criminal justice reform in America decades before they became cornerstones of modern presidential campaigns, and Rapsody is humanizing these hot-button issues by giving them faces and names.