Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

How new U.S. laws could trip up voters in the midterm elections

U.S. states have enacted more than 30 new voting restrictions since 2020, from voter ID requirements to limits on mail-in voting, fueling tensions between Republicans and Democrats ahead of November's general election. Republicans, who have largely embraced former President Donald Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 election, say the measures are necessary to ensure election integrity. Democrats say they are aimed at making it harder for voters who traditionally back the Democratic Party to cast their votes.

Victims' relatives confront Florida school killer at sentencing

Grieving relatives of the 17 students and teachers killed in a 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, confronted the killer, Nikolas Cruz, with tearful, angry words as his sentencing hearing began on Tuesday. At the conclusion of the hearing on Wednesday, Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer is due to sentence Cruz, 24, to life in prison without possibility of parole, a sentence decided by a jury. The jury voted to spare Cruz from the death penalty for one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, a decision several survivors' relatives decried in court as injustice.

Post-shutdown HBCU homecomings bring much-needed boosts to revenues

U.S. colleges and universities are celebrating their first post-pandemic homecomings, annual events when graduates return to celebrate years past and cheer on their alma mater football teams. For historically Black institutions, many of which were founded after the Civil War to educate newly freed Americans barred because of racism from studying at other U.S. institutions, homecoming's reboot brings a much-needed economic boost to the universities and their surrounding areas.

U.S. Chief Justice Roberts pauses fight over Trump tax returns

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily blocked a U.S. House of Representatives committee from gaining access to former President Donald Trump's tax returns, effectively pausing the fight over a request from lawmakers that he claims is politically motivated. The order from the chief justice maintains the status quo while the Supreme Court assesses Trump's emergency request, filed on Monday, to block a lower court ruling that upheld the House panel's request for the tax materials as a justified part of its legislative work, while his attorneys prepare an appeal.

U.S. Supreme Court allows Graham questioning in Georgia election probe

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to block Senator Lindsey Graham from having to testify before a grand jury in a criminal investigation of Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia, handing a setback to a prominent ally of the former president. The justices denied Graham's emergency request to put on hold a judge's order requiring him to appear as a witness before the grand jury in Fulton County while the Republican senator's appeal in the dispute proceeded. Graham, who represents South Carolina in the Senate, contends that as a member of Congress he is protected under the U.S. Constitution from questioning in the investigation.

U.S. Capitol police chief: attack on Pelosi's husband bolsters case for more security

The attack on U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband highlights the need for more money to protect lawmakers in a bitterly divided political climate, the head of the Capitol Police said on Tuesday. Authorities are monitoring thousands of cases across the country to stop potential threats, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a statement just hours before the man accused of beating Pelosi's husband with a hammer was expected to make his first court appearance.

Suspect in hammer attack on Paul Pelosi pleads not guilty to state charges

The man accused of breaking into U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home and clubbing her husband in the head with a hammer pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to attempted murder and other charges and was ordered to remain jailed without bond. David Wayne DePape, 42, showed up for his first court appearance since Friday's attack with his right arm in a sling, a consequence, his court-appointed public defender said, of a dislocated shoulder suffered during the arrest.

Trump Organization fraud trial delayed after witness tests positive for COVID

The criminal tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization went on hold on Tuesday after the company's controller, Jeffrey McConney, who had been testifying as a prosecution witness, tested positive for COVID-19. McConney had been coughing during his testimony earlier in the day and on Monday after he took the stand as the first witness in the trial. He tested positive after complaining of illness during Tuesday's lunch break.

Biden approval ticks up as Democrats brace for midterm elections - Reuters/Ipsos

President Joe Biden's approval rating edged higher with just a week to go before U.S. midterm elections when his Democratic Party is expected to lose control of the House of Representatives, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed on Tuesday found. The two-day national poll found that 40% of Americans approve of Biden's job performance, a percentage point higher than a week earlier.

U.S. FAA should bar airlines from reducing leg room -6 Democratic senators

Six Democratic U.S senators urged the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday to bar airlines from further shrinking the size and leg room of airplane seats. The senators including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Richard Blumenthal, Edward Markey and Ron Wyden, said airlines have been shrinking seat sizes since at least the 1990s — with seat pitch, which determines leg room, decreasing from 32 to 28 inches, and seat width decreasing from 19 to as little as 16 inches.