Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Biden said in November he was confident the plan is legal, and announced new, temporary relief for borrowers that may mean their next loan payment is not due until August 2023. Manhattan district attorney hires senior lawyer who has probed Trump The Manhattan district attorney has hired a former senior U.S. Department of Justice official who has investigated Donald Trump, and who may be again be called on to investigate the former U.S. president's activities.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Explainer-What's the latest on Biden's U.S. student loan forgiveness?

U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to forgive federal student loans, first announced in August, has been blocked by two legal challenges, clouding the financial future for millions of American students and graduates. Biden said in November he was confident the plan is legal, and announced new, temporary relief for borrowers that may mean their next loan payment is not due until August 2023.

Manhattan district attorney hires senior lawyer who has probed Trump

The Manhattan district attorney has hired a former senior U.S. Department of Justice official who has investigated Donald Trump, and who may be again be called on to investigate the former U.S. president's activities. Matthew Colangelo will serve as senior counsel to the district attorney Alvin Bragg, following two years helping oversee the Justice Department's antitrust, civil, civil rights, environmental and tax divisions, as well as some hate crimes.

U.S. railroad investor resolutions urge paid sick leave for workers

Investors have proposed shareholder resolutions at two U.S. railroads calling for paid sick leave for workers, an issue that nearly caused a national rail strike, and they could go to an advisory vote at shareholder meetings in the spring. On Friday President Joe Biden signed legislation to block a rail shutdown that could have devastated the American economy. But the deal he approved did not include paid sick days for workers, a key sticking point for unions in contract talks with five major U.S. railroads.

Giuliani 'weaponized his law license' in 2020 election case - ethics counsel

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Monday defended his work on a failed election fraud lawsuit, as a Washington, D.C., disciplinary panel heard charges that he violated attorney ethics rules in the case. The November 2020 lawsuit, which sought to throw out votes cast in Pennsylvania, was rejected by a judge. A federal appeals court refused to let the campaign file a revised complaint.

White House asks Republicans to condemn Trump remarks on U.S. Constitution

The White House on Monday condemned Donald Trump's weekend remarks that called for suspension of constitutional rules, and urged more Republicans to come forward to rebuke the former president. "Every President and every member of Congress swears to 'defend' the Constitution of the United States," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said on Monday.

Michael Avenatti sentenced to 14 years prison in California fraud case

Michael Avenatti, the already imprisoned lawyer who represented porn actress Stormy Daniels in litigation against Donald Trump, was sentenced on Monday to another 14 years in prison after he admitted to cheating four other clients, including a paraplegic, out of millions of dollars. The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, California is in addition to the five years in prison that Avenatti, 51, was already serving for two unrelated convictions in Manhattan federal court.

Exclusive-Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests

Elon Musk’s Neuralink, a medical device company, is under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid internal staff complaints that its animal testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations. Neuralink Corp is developing a brain implant it hopes will help paralyzed people walk again and cure other neurological ailments. The federal probe, which has not been previously reported, was opened in recent months by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General at the request of a federal prosecutor, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation. The probe, one of the sources said, focuses on violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs how researchers treat and test some animals.

Attack on North Carolina electric grid 'new level of threat,' governor says

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper on Monday warned of a "whole new level of threat" after this weekend's gunfire attacks on two electrical substations that left almost an entire county in the freezing dark. Schools in Moore County will be closed for a second day on Tuesday and 38,000 households were still without power amid freezing nighttime temperatures after the Saturday shootings that Cooper called criminal attacks.

Jury deliberating in Trump Organization's criminal tax fraud trial

Jurors in the Trump Organization's tax fraud trial started deliberating on Monday, following four weeks of testimony about executive pay practices at Donald Trump's real estate company that prosecutors said amounted to a criminal scheme that went on for at least 15 years. During approximately four hours of deliberations on Monday, jurors sent one note to the judge requesting clarification on one of the charges. The jury will pick resume on Tuesday.

Senate candidates make last pitch in Georgia midterm election runoff

With Republican influence in the U.S. Senate on the line, two dozen party faithful gathered in an Atlanta suburb on Sunday for the final stretch of a get-out-the-vote effort aimed at electing former football star Herschel Walker. Conservative activist Scott Presler told the group to make sure the targets of their door-knocking had a plan to vote in person on Tuesday or to submit their absentee ballots on time in the runoff between Walker and his Democratic opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock.