Reuters US Domestic News Summary

In a series of partisan votes, the Senate dismissed the charges accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of not enforcing U.S. border laws and lying to Congress, as illegal immigration has hit record levels since Biden took office in 2021. Arizona Republicans uphold 1864 abortion ban, Democrats still seek repeal Democrats in the Arizona House of Representatives tried repeatedly to repeal an 1864 ban on abortion on Wednesday but failed to get the Republican support they needed against the Civil War-era measure poised to become state law once again.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Columbia University president takes heat at congressional antisemitism hearing

A U.S. congressional committee on Wednesday accused Columbia University's president of failing to protect Jewish students on campus, echoing accusations leveled against three other elite university leaders at a hearing last year that sent shockwaves through higher education. Columbia President Minouche Shafik responded to the accusations by some members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce by strongly denouncing antisemitic behavior by students and professors at the New York City-based Ivy League university, and by pledging there would be consequences.

US House to vote on Ukraine and Israel aid, despite hardline objections

The U.S. House of Representatives will have its long-awaited vote on aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific as soon as Saturday, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday, paving the way for its possible passage despite fierce objections from the right wing of his conference. The House Appropriations Committee unveiled legislation providing more than $95 billion in security assistance, including $60.84 billion to address the conflict in Ukraine, of which $23.2 billion would be used to replenish U.S. weapons, stocks and facilities.

Exclusive-Donald Trump mulls middle-class tax cut as he eyes return to office

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has indicated to advisers he is keen on a new middle-class tax cut should he return to the White House, two people familiar with the discussions said, an initiative that could appeal to voters but could also worsen America's yawning budget deficit. Among the ideas that advisers have presented to the former president is a cut to the federal payroll tax, said one of those people, a move that could lower the flow of money into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds and open Trump to criticism from Democrats that he is torpedoing the safety net for elderly Americans.

Yellen calls Republican delays in approving Ukraine aid inexcusable

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday underscored the Biden administration's commitment to provide Ukraine with the budgetary and military assistance it needs, while calling Republican delays in approving the aid inexcusable. Yellen made the comments after meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko. Their meeting followed a Ukraine conference held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings.

US Senate ends impeachment of Biden's border chief Mayorkas

The Democratic-majority U.S. Senate on Wednesday dismissed impeachment charges against President Joe Biden's top border official, bringing a swift end to an effort that House of Representatives Republicans launched months ago. In a series of partisan votes, the Senate dismissed the charges accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of not enforcing U.S. border laws and lying to Congress, as illegal immigration has hit record levels since Biden took office in 2021.

Arizona Republicans uphold 1864 abortion ban, Democrats still seek repeal

Democrats in the Arizona House of Representatives tried repeatedly to repeal an 1864 ban on abortion on Wednesday but failed to get the Republican support they needed against the Civil War-era measure poised to become state law once again. In four votes, the chamber deadlocked 30-30 on a procedural motion that would have allowed a repeal bill to come to the floor, with one Republican joining the 29 Democrats.

Biden says uncle shot down over area populated by cannibals in World War Two

President Joe Biden on Wednesday raised the possibility that an uncle who served in the Pacific campaign during World War Two might have fallen victim to cannibals after his plane was shot down over New Guinea. Biden made the comment after visiting a missing-in-action war memorial in his childhood home city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and putting his hand on the engraved name of Ambrose Finnegan, whose plane was shot down and whose body was never recovered.

Trump hush money prosecutors seek to ask about fraud, E. Jean Carroll

Prosecutors on Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial want to ask the former U.S. president about civil cases in which he was found liable for sexual abuse and fraud if he chooses to testify, according to a document made public on Wednesday. It will be up to Justice Juan Merchan to decide whether the prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office can ask Trump about those cases during his possible cross-examination, or whether they would be too prejudicial to Trump and not relevant enough to the trial.

Hawaii releases detailed timeline of deadly wildfire that razed Lahaina

A fire engine arrived within five minutes of the first reports of a wildfire last August on the edge of Lahaina, the historic Hawaiian resort town, according to the most detailed timeline yet of the disaster, released on Wednesday by the Hawaii attorney general. The first emergency calls came in at 2:55 p.m. on Aug. 8, the report said. Firefighters could see the smoke at 2:57 p.m.; arrived at the large, fast-growing patch of fire at 3:00 p.m.; and had been joined by police officers who confirmed the first building to catch fire at 3:05 p.m., a storage shed.

Trump's ex-fixer Michael Cohen to be key witness in hush money criminal trial

Michael Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump, is now poised to serve as a star prosecution witness in the former U.S. president's criminal trial on charges of covering up hush money paid to a porn star. Cohen's role at the first criminal trial ever of a U.S. president, which began on Monday in New York state court in Manhattan, marks the culmination of his 15-year arc from being the businessman-turned-politician's lawyer and "fixer" to an outspoken antagonist.

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