US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. senators want FAA to rewrite aircraft evacuation standards; Biden admin tells Supreme Court law protecting social media companies has limits and more

Trump attorney Jesse Binnall told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that Trump is immune from the lawsuits because he was acting as president in his impassioned remarks to supporters, using the "bully pulpit" to comment on outside events. Trump legal team locates two more classified records, source says A team that Donald Trump hired to search for White House documents found at least two classified records at the former president's Florida home, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. senators want FAA to rewrite aircraft evacuation standards

Two U.S. senators are proposing legislation to require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to rewrite aircraft evacuation standards to do a better job of taking real life conditions into account. Current rules say airlines must be able to evacuate passengers within 90 seconds but do not set seat size requirements. The FAA uses tests to determine if shrinking seat sizes and seat pitch on airplanes are safe.

Biden admin tells Supreme Court law protecting social media companies has limits

The Biden administration argued to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that social media giants like Google could in some instances have responsibility for user content, adopting a stance that could potentially undermine a federal law shielding companies from liability. Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice made their argument in the high-profile lawsuit filed by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old American citizen killed in 2015 when Islamist militants opened fire on the Paris bistro where she was eating.

Alex Jones says he can pay less than 1% of Sandy Hook verdicts

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Wednesday said he has less than $12 million of the $1.5 billion he owes the families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims, but they immediately questioned the accuracy of his statements. In the first hearing of Jones' bankruptcy in a Houston court, his attorney Vickie Driver said Jones wanted to settle with the Sandy Hook families. They won $1.5 billion in defamation trials over Jones' lies about the 2012 school shooting.

Yellen honors fellow pioneers as U.S. prints first banknotes with two women's signatures

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will honor fellow pioneers when she presides over Thursday's unveiling of the first U.S. banknotes printed with two women's signatures while calling for "much more" work to advance equity for women and minorities. Yellen, the first woman to head the Treasury and chair the U.S. Federal Reserve, said the new banknotes being produced at the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing site in Fort Worth, Texas, were a reminder of the contributions of women who have worked at Treasury and in the economics profession.

Trump asks U.S. appeals court to block civil Jan. 6 lawsuits

Donald Trump should be immune from civil lawsuits over last year's siege on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, a lawyer for the former president told a federal appeals court on Wednesday. Trump attorney Jesse Binnall told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that Trump is immune from the lawsuits because he was acting as president in his impassioned remarks to supporters, using the "bully pulpit" to comment on outside events.

Trump legal team locates two more classified records, source says

A team that Donald Trump hired to search for White House documents found at least two classified records at the former president's Florida home, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. A federal judge directed Trump's attorneys to look for any classified material still in his possession. They found the documents in a storage room at his Palm Beach, Florida, home, one of four properties searched, the person said.

U.S. House committee to hear testimony on alleged Supreme Court leak

A U.S. House of Representatives committee will on Thursday hear the testimony of a former anti-abortion leader who has alleged he was told in advance about the outcome of a major 2014 Supreme Court ruling regarding contraceptives. Reverend Rob Schenck recently told the New York Times that he was informed of the 2014 Hobby Lobby v. Burwell ruling weeks before its public announcement after two conservative allies of his dined at the home of Justice Samuel Alito and his wife. Alito has denied the allegation.

After final Trump-backed midterm loss, Senate Republicans bemoan weak nominees

Republicans on Wednesday blamed their loss in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff election on several factors directly tied to former President Donald Trump, beginning with the scandal-plagued celebrity he chose as their candidate. Herschel Walker, a former University of Georgia football star with no political experience, failed to unseat Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock after being plagued by questions about his fitness for office. Warnock's win gave Democrats a 51-49 majority in the 100-member chamber.

Ex-Theranos president Balwani sentenced to nearly 13 years for fraud

A U.S. judge on Wednesday sentenced former Theranos Inc President Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani to 12 years and 11 months in prison on charges of defrauding investors and patients of the blood testing startup led by Elizabeth Holmes, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office confirmed. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, imposed the sentence on Balwani, who was convicted by a jury on two counts of conspiracy and 10 counts of fraud in July.

Supreme Court leans toward limiting judicial scrutiny of U.S. elections

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday appeared to ready to limit judicial power to overrule voting policies crafted by state politicians but might not go as far as Republican North Carolina lawmakers want in a case the liberal justices painted as a threat to American democratic norms. The court heard arguments in a case the state lawmakers have used to try to persuade the justices to endorse a contentious legal theory gaining traction in conservative legal circles that would prevent state courts from reviewing the legality of actions by state legislatures regulating federal elections.