Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Trump is appealing last month's $5 million verdict by a Manhattan federal jury, which said he defamed the former Elle magazine columnist last October by calling her claim that he raped her in the mid-1990s a hoax and a lie. Biden to sign executive order expanding access to contraception U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday will sign an executive order designed to protect and expand access to contraception, after a Supreme Court ruling last year overturning the constitutional right to abortion raised fears that birth control could also face restrictions.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. Supreme Court allows Biden's shift on immigration enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday gave President Joe Biden's administration the green light to move ahead with guidelines shifting immigration enforcement toward countering public safety threats, handing him a victory on the politically contentious issue in a legal battle with Texas and Louisiana. The 8-1 decision overturned a judge's ruling last year that had halted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines narrowing the scope of those who can be targeted by immigration agents for arrest and deportation.

Trump sets aside money while he appeals E. Jean Carroll's $5 million verdict

Donald Trump will deposit $5.55 million with a federal court as security while the former U.S. president appeals a jury verdict that he sexually abused and defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump is appealing last month's $5 million verdict by a Manhattan federal jury, which said he defamed the former Elle magazine columnist last October by calling her claim that he raped her in the mid-1990s a hoax and a lie.

Biden to sign executive order expanding access to contraception

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday will sign an executive order designed to protect and expand access to contraception, after a Supreme Court ruling last year overturning the constitutional right to abortion raised fears that birth control could also face restrictions. Biden senior adviser Jen Klein told reporters that the order will increase ways for women to access contraception and lower out-of-pocket costs.

U.S. court blocks Florida law restricting drag performances

A U.S. judge on Friday blocked a new Florida law restricting drag performances, the third time this month that federal courts have enjoined laws backed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that concern gender or LGBTQ matters. In all three cases, the issues supported by DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, lost on grounds that the laws appear to infringe on people's constitutional rights.

Republican 2024 hopefuls back abortion limits one year after Roe v Wade overturned

Several Republican presidential candidates praised restrictions on abortion rights at a conference of Christian conservatives on Friday, illustrating how the issue still animates the party one year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down nationwide constitutional protections for the procedure. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has emerged as one of the party's most vocal and high-profile opponents of abortion rights, called on all candidates to support a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of gestation if elected.

U.S. Supreme Court upholds law against encouraging illegal immigration

A federal law that makes it a crime for a person to encourage illegal immigration does not violate constitutional free speech protections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday in upholding the decades-old measure defended by President Joe Biden's administration. The 7-2 ruling, authored by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, overturned a lower court's decision to strike down the provision, part of a larger immigration statute, in a case involving a California man named Helaman Hansen who deceived immigrants through a phony "adult adoption" program. The lower court had found the law overly broad because it may criminalize speech protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.

Biden slams Republicans on abortion rights a year after Roe repeal

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday marked the one-year anniversary of a Supreme Court ruling overturning the right to an abortion by telling a rally of abortion-rights supporters that Republicans will regret their efforts to limit reproductive rights. "The majority wrote, 'Women are not without an electoral or political power.' You ain't seen nothing yet," Biden said of the Supreme Court's landmark Dobbs decision. "Make no mistake: this election is about freedom on the ballot once again."

US House panel critical of Twitter probe to question FTC chair at July 13 hearing

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan is set to testify on July 13 before the House Judiciary Committee led by Republicans who have sharply criticized her leadership of the antitrust enforcement agency, the committee and commission confirmed on Friday. This will be her first appearance before the committee since Republicans assumed control.

US special counsel seeks delay to start of Trump documents trial until December

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked a federal judge to delay the start of former President Donald Trump's trial on charges of willful retention of classified government records and obstruction of justice until Dec. 11, a court filing showed. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set an initial trial date of Aug. 14.

U.S. attorney general denies allegations that Hunter Biden tax probe was stymied

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday denied allegations by an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower, who said the high-ranking federal prosecutor tasked with investigating President Joe Biden's son Hunter was hindered by the Justice Department from pursuing more aggressive criminal tax charges. Speaking publicly for the first time since Hunter Biden was criminally charged on Tuesday with two misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to pay income taxes, Garland told reporters at a press conference that U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the top federal prosecutor in Delaware, "was given complete authority" to make charging decisions on his own.