Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Trump sat for a videotaped deposition on Monday morning at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan, said Benjamin Dictor, a lawyer who sought Trump's testimony in the long-running dispute. Colin Powell, top U.S. soldier and diplomat, dies of COVID-19 complications Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state, a top military officer and a national security adviser, died on Monday at age 84 due to complications from COVID-19.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. Senate set to hold test vote Wednesday on election reforms

The U.S. Senate is likely to take a procedural vote on Wednesday on whether to debate an overhaul of federal election law, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday as he urged Republicans not to block the measure. "If there's anything worthy of debate in this chamber, it should be protecting and strengthening our democracy," Schumer, a Democrat, said of the bill to expand voters' access to mail-in ballots and other steps.

U.S. Democrats battle over climate change plans in $3.5 trillion bill

Negotiators of a U.S. bill to invest up to $3.5 trillion to expand social programs and attack climate change gave hints of progress on Monday, but some Democrats were resigned to the increasing likelihood that a proposal to reduce carbon emissions will be weakened or scrapped. "Over the last weekend I held many productive conversations" with lawmakers and the White House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said. "We still have work to do," he added, without providing details in a Senate floor speech.

Trump sues U.S. House committee investigating Jan. 6 attack

Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday against the U.S. congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, alleging it made an illegal request for his White House records. Trump asserted in the filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that materials sought by the House of Representatives' Jan. 6 Select Committee are covered by a legal doctrine known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentiality of some communications between White House officials.

Biden administration asks U.S. Supreme Court to block Texas abortion law

President Joe Biden's administration on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, calling the Republican-backed measure plainly unconstitutional and specifically designed to evade judicial scrutiny. The administration asked the Supreme Court to quickly reverse a decision this month by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a judge's order blocking the law while litigation over the statute's legality continues. The justices in a 5-4 Sept. 1 decision let the law take effect in a separate challenge brought by abortion providers in the state.

U.S. Supreme Court again protects police accused of excessive force

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday signaled that it is not retreating from its inclination to grant a legal protection called "qualified immunity" to police accused in lawsuits of using excessive force, ruling in favor of officers on Monday in separate cases from California and Oklahoma. The justices overturned a lower court's decision allowing a trial in a lawsuit against officers Josh Girdner and Brandon Vick over the 2016 fatal shooting of a hammer-wielding man in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Top U.S. envoy to Afghanistan stepping down

Top U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad is stepping down, the State Department said on Monday, less than two months after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country. Khalilzad will be replaced by his deputy, Tom West, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, noting that West will work closely with the U.S. embassy, which is now based in Doha, on U.S. interests in Afghanistan.

Potential jurors in Ahmaud Arbery case asked: Is U.S. Confederate flag racist?

Defense counsel in the trial of three white men accused of murdering Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia asked potential jurors on Monday whether they considered the Confederate battle flag a racist symbol. Three out of the first group of 20 potential jurors raised their hands when asked the question during jury selection at Glynn County Superior Court in the small coastal city of Brunswick, where Arbery was shot dead on Feb. 23, 2020.

Trump questioned under oath in lawsuit over alleged Trump Tower assault

Former President Donald Trump testified under oath on Monday as part of a civil lawsuit brought by protesters who allege they were assaulted by his security guards in New York in 2015, a lawyer for the protesters told a news conference. Trump sat for a videotaped deposition on Monday morning at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan, said Benjamin Dictor, a lawyer who sought Trump's testimony in the long-running dispute.

Colin Powell, top U.S. soldier and diplomat, dies of COVID-19 complications

Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state, a top military officer and a national security adviser, died on Monday at age 84 due to complications from COVID-19. He was fully vaccinated, his family said. Powell had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer which was in remission, and early-stage Parkinson's disease, said a close friend who asked not to be named. The blood cancer reduces the body's ability to fight infection and puts people at higher risk for a severe case of the virus.

Colin Powell, U.S. military leader and first Black secretary of state, dies

Colin Powell became the first Black U.S. secretary of state and top military officer during decades as one of America's most prominent leaders, but his reputation was tainted in 2003 when he touted spurious intelligence at the United Nations to make the case for war with Iraq despite deep misgivings. Powell, who died on Monday https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ex-joint-chiefs-staff-powell-dies-covid-complications-facebook-post-2021-10-18 at age 84 from complications of COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, was the son of Jamaican immigrants who rose to hold senior military and civilian posts and helped guide American actions during two Iraq wars.

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