Reuters US Domestic News Summary

While Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long followed a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. White House signals Biden may address filibuster reform soon The White House on Friday offered a strong signal that it is preparing to seek changes soon to a long-standing Senate tradition that has allowed Republicans to block voting rights legislation and other major Democratic initiatives.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

White House repeats no Taiwan policy change; experts see Biden gaffe

The White House on Friday reiterated that Joe Biden was not signaling a change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan when he said the United States would come to the island's aid if it was attacked by China, and analysts dismissed the president's remark as a gaffe. While Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long followed a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

White House signals Biden may address filibuster reform soon

The White House on Friday offered a strong signal that it is preparing to seek changes soon to a long-standing Senate tradition that has allowed Republicans to block voting rights legislation and other major Democratic initiatives. Democratic President Joe Biden, who spent 36 years in the Senate, has previously opposed any significant overhaul of a Senate rule known as the filibuster, which requires 60 of the 100 senators to agree on most legislation.

U.S. Democrats narrow differences on Biden's agenda, mull billionaire tax

Democrats are closing in on a deal on President Joe Biden's social and climate-change agenda by narrowing their differences over healthcare and other issues, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a White House meeting on Friday. "We had a very positive meeting this morning. I'm very optimistic," Pelosi told reporters on her return to the Capitol.

U.S. Supreme Court takes up Texas abortion case, lets ban remain

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on Nov. 1 a challenge to a Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on the procedure and lets private citizens enforce it - a case that could dramatically curtail abortion access in the United States if the justices endorse the measure's unique design. The justices took up requests by President Joe Biden's administration and abortion providers to immediately review their challenges to the law. The court, which on Sept. 1 allowed the law to go into effect, declined to act on the Justice Department's request to immediately block enforcement of the measure.

Trump's executive privilege claim in Capitol riot case gets Nov. 4 hearing

A U.S. judge will consider on Nov. 4 former President Donald Trump's claim of executive privilege in response to a document request from a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. Trump on Monday sued the Jan. 6 Select Committee, alleging members made an illegal request for his White House records as part of their investigation.

U.S. takes step toward oil and gas auction off Alaska coast next year

The Biden administration on Friday took a procedural step towards holding an auction for oil and gas drilling rights in the Cook Inlet off the coast of Alaska next year. The move is the latest effort by the U.S. Department of Interior to comply with a court order to resume oil and gas lease sales that President Joe Biden paused shortly after taking office in January.

Viral video, opinions challenge Georgia jury selection for Arbery case

A Georgia court struggled this week to seat jurors in the trial of three white men accused of murdering Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, underscoring the challenge of finding people who have not formed firm opinions based on a viral video of the shooting. "I saw the news footage and I saw the video footage of the crime, and I've already formed a guilty opinion of the crime," one woman told the court earlier this week.

Alec Baldwin heart-broken over prop gun accident, problems reported on movie set

Actor Alec Baldwin said on Friday he was in shock over his accidental fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set, as reports emerged of walk-outs there earlier in the week over unsafe conditions. The star of "30 Rock" and "The Hunt for Red October" said he was "fully cooperating" with authorities to determine how the incident occurred on Thursday on the set of his Western movie "Rust".

Prop guns spark debate after cinematographer's death on set

An on-set shooting death has reignited concern about the use of prop guns like the weapon actor Alec Baldwin discharged in the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while filming a movie in New Mexico. Some prop guns are non-firing facsimile weapons, but many are real guns, loaded with blank rounds instead of bullets.

Ex-Giuliani associate Parnas found guilty of violating U.S. campaign finance law

Lev Parnas, a onetime associate of Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty on Friday of violating U.S. campaign finance laws during the 2018 elections. Parnas, a Ukraine-born American businessman, and his former associate Igor Fruman had been accused of soliciting funds from Russian businessman Andrey Muraviev to donate to candidates in states where the group was seeking licenses to operate cannabis businesses in 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)