Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New York to pay millions to protesters arrested at George Floyd demonstration

New York City has agreed to pay millions of dollars to demonstrators who sued the police department, saying they had been mistreated during a June 2020 racial justice protest that followed the killing of George Floyd. The proposed settlement would award $21,500 to each of the more than 300 people arrested in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the city's Bronx borough if it is approved by a federal judge.

Florida's DeSantis presses prosecutor over suspect in fatal shooting

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has ordered a local prosecutor to hand over information on why a suspect with a history of violent crime as a juvenile was not in prison, but on the street where he allegedly carried out a deadly shooting spree last week. The Republican governor's office sent a letter on Tuesday to the state's attorney in Orlando demanding details about the criminal and judicial record of Keith Moses, 19. Moses is accused of killing a 9-year-old girl, a woman in her 20s and a television journalist covering the incident in Pine Hills on Feb. 22. The girl's mother and another reporter were wounded.

Prosecutor says 'gathering storm' caused South Carolina attorney Murdaugh to murder wife and son

The state prosecutor said on Wednesday that a "gathering storm" of scrutiny on Richard "Alex" Murdaugh's financial misdeeds caused him to murder his wife and son, in a desperate bid by the now-disbarred South Carolina lawyer to cover his tracks. In his closing argument, Creighton Waters portrayed Murdaugh as a serial liar and said all the evidence presented during the month-long trial pointed to him as the individual who carried out the murders on the night of June 7, 2021.

U.S. House panel approves bill giving Biden power to ban TikTok

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday along party lines to give President Joe Biden the power to ban Chinese-owned TikTok, in what would be the most far-reaching U.S. restriction on any social media app. Lawmakers voted 24 to 16 to approve the measure to grant the administration new powers to ban the ByteDance-owned app - which is used by over 100 million Americans - as well as other apps considered security risks.

Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan denied parole for 16th time

A California review board on Wednesday denied parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian refugee serving a life sentence for assassinating U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Sirhan was denied parole for another three years by a panel of California parole board members, who said he was not suitable for release. The decision marks a change from a different panel's conclusion two years ago that the 78-year-old should be paroled.

Biden aims billions in taxpayer money at companies' labor, supply practices

U.S. President Joe Biden is using $1.5 trillion in new federal spending to continue his push to reshape the U.S. economy, redirect corporate profits and reverse a decades-old decline in the benefits that go to workers. With a new team of progressive-leaning economic advisers and a fiscal war chest of three massive spending bills, the Biden administration is using new guidelines to pressure companies to expand childcare, produce more in the United States and hire more equitably.

US Senate moves toward ending 'forever war' authorizations

A U.S. Senate committee will consider legislation next week that would repeal two authorizations for past wars in Iraq, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday, in a renewed push to reassert Congress' role in deciding to send troops into combat. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, or AUMFs, Schumer said, paving the way for a possible vote in the full Senate before members leave for the April recess, Schumer said.

NFL must face racial bias claims in open court, judge rules

The National Football League and three of its teams must face claims by Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores of racist hiring practices in open court, a U.S. judge in New York ruled on Wednesday while sending other aspects of the case to private arbitration. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni ruled that the NFL, the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Houston Texans must face Flores' claims of systematic discrimination against Black coaches in the league. Flores formerly served as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

U.S. Congress votes to block ESG investing, Biden veto expected

A Republican bill to prevent pension fund managers from basing investment decisions on factors like climate change cleared Congress on Wednesday, setting up a confrontation with President Joe Biden, who is expected to veto the measure. The U.S. Senate voted 50-46 to adopt a resolution to overturn a Labor Department rule making it easier for fund managers to consider environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, issues for investments and shareholder rights decisions, such as through proxy voting.

US Supreme Court doubt over student debt relief looms over Biden agenda

The skepticism expressed by conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices toward President Joe Biden's move to forgive $430 billion in student debt not only cast doubt on the plan's fate but also signaled trouble ahead for the use of executive power to get things done in his remaining time in office. Questions posed by the conservative justices during arguments on Tuesday over Biden's debt relief indicated that the conservative-majority court could strike down the plan as an unlawful overreach of executive power.