Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Republican lawmakers ousted Jones and another young, Black legislator last week over their gun control protest on the House floor, capturing national attention with Democrats' seeking to advance gun violence prevention and racial equality while Republicans wielded their supermajority power. NY governor names new chief judge nominee after first pick fails New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday nominated a judge to lead the state's highest court after lawmakers rejected the Democrat's previous pick from her own party.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

No separate trial for former JPMorgan executive in Epstein case

A U.S. judge rejected requests to sever JPMorgan Chase & Co's lawsuit accusing former executive Jes Staley of concealing what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein from two related lawsuits over its work for the late sex offender. Monday's decision by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan is a defeat for Staley, who said the scheduled Oct. 23 trial for all three cases left him too little time to defend against JPMorgan's "slanderous" accusations.

US appeals Texas abortion pill ruling as states stockpile the drug

The U.S. government on Monday appealed a Texas judge's decision to suspend the Food and Drug Administration's 23-year-old approval of a key abortion drug, saying the ruling endangered women's health by blocking access to a pill long deemed safe. In a filing with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Department of Justice called Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's decision on the drug mifepristone "especially unwarranted" because it would undermine the FDA's scientific judgment and harm women for whom the drug is medically necessary.

Virginia mother of 6-year-old who shot teacher charged

A Virginia grand jury on Monday indicted the mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot an elementary school teacher in Newport News in January on felony child neglect and a firearms charge. On Jan. 6, 25-year-old teacher Abigail Zwerner was wounded by a first-grade student in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School after school officials received warnings that the boy had a gun at school.

Bank worker shoots dead four colleagues in Louisville, Kentucky

A bank employee armed with a rifle shot dead four colleagues and wounded nine other people at his workplace on Monday while livestreaming the attack in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, city officials said. The attacker was fatally shot at the scene, the Louisville Metro Police Department said, but it was unclear whether from police gunfire or a self-inflicted wound.

U.S. officials review intel sharing after damaging leak

U.S. national security agencies are reviewing how they share their most sensitive secrets inside the U.S. government, and dealing with the diplomatic fallout from the release of dozens of confidential documents, three U.S. officials said. Investigators are also working to determine what person or group might have had the ability and motivation to release the intelligence reports, said one of the officials. The leaks could be the most damaging release of U.S. government information since the 2013 publication of thousands of documents on WikiLeaks.

U.S. spending $5 billion to speed up development of new COVID vaccines

The U.S. government is spending over $5 billion on an effort to speed up the development of new COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson and a Biden administration official said on Monday.

The investment, dubbed "Project NextGen" and first announced by White House and HHS officials in an interview with the Washington Post, aims to provide better protection from coronaviruses, including the one that causes COVID-19, that might become future threats.

Factbox-What is known about latest leak of U.S. secrets

U.S. national security agencies and the Justice Department are investigating the release of dozens of classified documents to assess the damage to national security and relations with allies and other countries, including Ukraine. Here is what we know and do not know about what appears to be the gravest leak of U.S. secrets in years:

Senate panel urges US chief justice to probe trips by Thomas

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Monday urged U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate luxury trips taken by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that were paid for by a Republican donor - conduct they deemed inconsistent with ethical standards for "any person in a position of public trust." The committee will hold a hearing in the coming days on the matter, Chairman Richard Durbin and the panel's 10 other Democratic members wrote in a letter to Roberts. The hearing, they said, would focus on "the need to restore confidence in the Supreme Court's ethical standards."

Tennessee lawmaker returns to House after expulsion over gun protest

Tennessee state Representative Justin Jones returned to the state House on Monday, pumping his fist and declaring "power to the people" as a Nashville-area council restored him to office following his expulsion over a gun protest. Republican lawmakers ousted Jones and another young, Black legislator last week over their gun control protest on the House floor, capturing national attention with Democrats' seeking to advance gun violence prevention and racial equality while Republicans wielded their supermajority power.

NY governor names new chief judge nominee after first pick fails

New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday nominated a judge to lead the state's highest court after lawmakers rejected the Democrat's previous pick from her own party. Rowan Wilson, an associate judge on the Court of Appeals, was named as chief judge of the same court, overseeing the state's sprawling state judicial system. If confirmed, Wilson would be the first Black judge in the post, replacing Janet DiFiore who stepped down in August.

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