US Domestic News Roundup: Blinken threatened with contempt of US Congress over Afghanistan cable; Closing arguments set in rape and defamation suit against Trump and more

Trump’s attorney Joseph Tacopina told the judge on Thursday that Trump had waived his right to testify in the trial in Manhattan federal court and opted not to present a defense in the case, gambling that jurors will find that Carroll had failed to make a persuasive case. Texas police seek motive in mall shooting that killed 8 Texas police on Sunday were investigating what motivated a 33-year-old gunman to kill at least eight people at a mall over the weekend, as President Joe Biden called for stricter gun laws.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Blinken threatened with contempt of US Congress over Afghanistan cable

The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee threatened Secretary of State Antony Blinken with contempt of Congress if he does not comply with a subpoena seeking a classified cable related to the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a letter to Blinken dated Friday and released on Monday, Representative Michael McCaul said information that has been provided about a "dissent channel" cable sent in July 2021 and the department's response to the cable were insufficient to satisfy the committee.

Closing arguments set in rape and defamation suit against Trump

A jury in Manhattan federal court is set to hear closing arguments on Monday from lawyers representing Donald Trump and writer E. Jean Carroll in her civil lawsuit accusing the former president of raping her in the 1990s and later defaming her. Trump's attorney Joseph Tacopina told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan last Thursday that his client waived his right to testify in the trial and also opted not to present a defense in the case, gambling that jurors will find that Carroll had failed to make a persuasive case.

Driver arrested after 7, including migrants, killed in Brownsville, Texas

At least seven pedestrians were killed and several others injured on Sunday when an SUV mowed down people near a homeless shelter that attends to migrants in Brownsville, Texas, police said. The male driver was in custody, Lieutenant Martin Sandoval of the Brownsville Police Department said, adding he was charged with reckless driving and could face additional charges.

Biden, McCarthy aim to break US debt-ceiling standoff as default crisis looms

President Joe Biden and top Republicans and Democrats from Congress are set to sit down this week to try to resolve a three-month standoff over the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a crippling default before the end of May. The Democratic president is calling on lawmakers to raise the federal government's self-imposed borrowing limit without conditions. Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said his chamber will not approve any deal that does not cut spending to address a growing budget deficit.

Biden plans to bolster US airline consumer protections

President Joe Biden will announce on Monday that the U.S. Transportation Department aims to write new rules requiring airlines to compensate passengers for significant flight delays or cancellations when carriers are responsible. It is the latest in a series of moves by the Biden administration to crack down on airlines and bolster passenger consumer protections.

Fire burns for third day at Shell Texas chemical plant

A fire burned for a third day on Sunday at Shell Plc's chemical plant in the Houston suburb of Deer Park, Texas, a company spokesperson said. The fire initially ignited on Friday afternoon in an explosion in an olefins unit, used to make plastics and rubber.

Senate Republicans oppose vote just to raise US debt ceiling, push for other priorities

A group of 43 Republicans in the U.S. Senate said they oppose voting on a bill that only raises the U.S. debt ceiling without tackling other priorities, in a letter to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, showing they could block such a plan by Democrats. Citing an economy "in free fall," the Republicans, led by Senator Mike Lee and including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said "substantive spending and budget reforms" need to be "a starting point" for negotiations.

Trump will not testify in New York rape, defamation trial

Former U.S. President Donald Trump will not testify at a civil trial to challenge claims made by writer E. Jean Carroll that he raped her in the 1990s and later defamed her, after letting a Sunday deadline pass without asking the court to appear. Trump's attorney Joseph Tacopina told the judge on Thursday that Trump had waived his right to testify in the trial in Manhattan federal court and opted not to present a defense in the case, gambling that jurors will find that Carroll had failed to make a persuasive case.

Texas police seek motive in mall shooting that killed 8

Texas police on Sunday were investigating what motivated a 33-year-old gunman to kill at least eight people at a mall over the weekend, as President Joe Biden called for stricter gun laws. The Texas Department of Public Safety on Sunday confirmed the identity of the assailant in Saturday's shooting as Mauricio Garcia, a 33-year-old resident of Dallas, Texas.

Streaming broke the career ladder, striking Hollywood writers say

Ronald D. Moore started his television writing career in 1989 in a junior-level job on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" before he rose through the ranks to produce hits such as "Battlestar Galactica" and "Outlander." That path to success is hard to find in today's Hollywood, Moore and other writers say, and is one reason the Writers Guild of America (WGA) called a strike that began May 2 and has shut down late-night television and threatens to undermine the crucial fall TV season.