Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Ex-TPG executive, others in U.S. college admissions scandal to appear in court

A former senior executive at private equity firm TPG Capital is among 15 people set to appear in court on Friday after being charged with participating in what prosecutors say was the largest college admissions scam uncovered in U.S. history. Former TPG senior executive Bill McGlashan is one of the wealthy parents slated to make their initial appearances in federal court in Boston after being accused of engaging in fraud and bribery schemes to help get their children into colleges. Supreme Court stays Texas execution to allow for Buddhist adviser

An inmate who was part of a murderous band of prison escapees dubbed the "Texas 7" won a reprieve from his death sentence on Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state to allow a Buddhist spiritual adviser to accompany him to the execution chamber. The 11th-hour stay was granted to Patrick Murphy, 57, convicted for his role in the killing a police officer at a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve in 2000 after escaping from a maximum-security prison days earlier. Trump overrides advisers, backs funding for Special Olympics after uproar

U.S. President Donald Trump overrode his budget team and backed funding for the Special Olympics on Thursday after his proposed cuts to the athletic program drew heavy fire from both Republicans and Democrats. Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2020, which he released earlier this month, would have zeroed out funding for the Special Olympics, which has an allocation of $17.6 million this fiscal year. O'Rourke to rally in his native Texas, where tough 2020 presidential primary awaits

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke will hold campaign rallies on Saturday in his home state of Texas, where he faces far different challenges in the 2020 race from those of his underdog U.S. Senate run in 2018. O'Rourke's campaign hopes the former congressman's personal ties to delegate-rich Texas give him a critical early boost in the large Democratic field fighting for the party's nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump. U.S. lawmakers introduce bill to stop NSA's mass data collection

Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday that would end the collection of Americans' phone records by the National Security Agency in an effort to undo a widely criticized security measure passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. "The NSA's sprawling phone records dragnet was born in secrecy, defended with lies and never stopped a single terrorist attack," said Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, one of the bill's main sponsors. Disney bans smoking at U.S. parks ahead of 'Star Wars' openings

Walt Disney Co will ban smoking, vaping and large strollers at its U.S. theme parks in California and Florida starting on May 1, the company said on Thursday. The restrictions are designed in part to help deal with the large crowds expected to flock later this year to new "Star Wars"-themed attractions at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Trump weighs in on Smollett case as Chicago demands reimbursement

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the Department of Justice would "review" the uproar surrounding actor Jussie Smollett, who was charged with staging a fake hate-crime attack on himself in Chicago before prosecutors abruptly dropped the case this week. Hours after Trump announced the review in a Twitter message calling the case a national embarrassment, the city sent the actor a letter demanding he reimburse police for $130,000 in overtime costs for the investigation. 'Hoarder' pleads guilty in one of biggest breaches of U.S. secrets

A former U.S. National Security Agency contractor, portrayed as an eccentric hoarder by his lawyers, pleaded guilty in a Baltimore, Maryland court on Thursday to stealing classified documents in a deal likely to put him in prison for nine years. Harold Martin, 54, who worked for several private firms and had clearances to access top secret information, was arrested over two years ago for what may have been the biggest breach of classified information in history. Migrants being held in Texas enclosure as surge overwhelms El Paso

Hundreds of migrants are being held in a chain-link enclosure in El Paso, Texas, as the number of families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the city overwhelms U.S. Border Patrol facilities, the agency said on Thursday. The enclosure holds migrants crossing the border illegally in metropolitan El Paso as they wait to be processed at a nearby Border Patrol station, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Ramiro Cordero said by phone. Seattle to charge man in deadly rush hour attack, no motive known

A Seattle man accused of killing two people and seriously wounding two more while firing into rush hour traffic will be formally charged in court on Friday, though police have uncovered no motive for the shooting spree. Tad Michael Norman, 33, is being held without bond at the King County jail under investigation for charges of homicide, robbery and assault, jail records show.