Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Bannon, convicted last year of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress, sought to make the case that he did not receive a fair trial because the judge barred him from making arguments central to his defense, including that his lawyer advised him he did not have to comply with the subpoena. US Senate Democrats tee up bill to avert government shutdown U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday took a procedural step to allow the Democratic-majority chamber to pass a stopgap government funding bill before a Nov. 17 deadline to avert a partial government shutdown.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US Senate Democrats scrub vote on Supreme Court ethics subpoenas

The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday postponed a planned vote on authorizing subpoenas to a pair of influential conservatives with ties to the U.S. Supreme Court as part of an ethics inquiry spurred by reports of undisclosed largesse directed to some conservative justices. Senator Dick Durbin, the committee's chairman, cited unspecified "scheduling issues" for adjourning the hearing.

Trump ally Bannon faces skeptical court in bid to overturn contempt conviction

Steve Bannon, who was a senior adviser to former President Donald Trump, faced a skeptical federal appeals court on Thursday as he sought to reverse his criminal conviction for defying a subpoena from a congressional panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Bannon, convicted last year of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress, sought to make the case that he did not receive a fair trial because the judge barred him from making arguments central to his defense, including that his lawyer advised him he did not have to comply with the subpoena.

US Senate Democrats tee up bill to avert government shutdown

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday took a procedural step to allow the Democratic-majority chamber to pass a stopgap government funding bill before a Nov. 17 deadline to avert a partial government shutdown. THE TAKE

Republicans demand Biden challenge China's Xi on fentanyl, prisoners

Republicans in the U.S. Congress urged President Joe Biden to make demands of China's leader Xi Jinping over detained Americans and other issues when they meet next week in San Francisco, arguing that Washington's push to engage Beijing had "negligible benefit." The Biden-Xi meeting around events at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will follow a series of largely unreciprocated U.S. cabinet-level visits to China, as the U.S. seeks to recover from a diplomatic crisis over its downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States in February.

Republican US senator blocks more military nominations, citing abortion policy

U.S. Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville prevented the approval of hundreds of military nominations on Thursday, continuing his blockade of promotions in protest over the Defense Department's abortion policy. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine read the names of 364 military officers who have been nominated for promotion, asking that they be approved. Tuberville objected to all of them.

Trump's lawyers mount long-shot bid to toss NY fraud lawsuit

Donald Trump’s lawyers on Thursday asked a New York judge to decide a civil fraud case against the former U.S. president in his favor, a long-shot bid coming midway through a trial that threatens to hobble his real estate empire. The request to effectively end the case came in open court a day after the New York attorney general’s office rested its case against Trump, his two adult sons and 10 of his companies.

Apple agrees to $25 million settlement with US over hiring of immigrants

Apple Inc will pay $25 million to settle claims by the U.S. Department of Justice that the company illegally favored immigrant workers over U.S. citizen and green card holders for certain jobs, the agency said on Thursday. The Justice Department in a statement said Apple did not recruit U.S. citizens or permanent residents for jobs that were eligible for a federal program allowing employers to sponsor immigrant workers for green cards, in violation of a federal law that bars discrimination based on citizenship.

Former US astronaut Frank Borman dies at 95

Former U.S. astronaut Frank Borman, who made history by commanding the first manned flight to circle the moon and later piloted Eastern Airlines as chairman in severe economic turbulence, has died at the age of 95, NASA said on Thursday. Borman, who spent a total of almost 20 days in space on two trips in the 1960s, died on Tuesday in Billings, Montana, NASA said in a statement on its website.

US needs new way to measure and advance economic fairness, group says

The U.S. must change how it measures the well-being of its people - including gauging how much of a voice they feel they have in political outcomes - as part of a larger effort to reverse rising inequality across the economy. That's the assessment of a new report released on Thursday by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. It includes recommendations ranging from redesigning social programs with an aim of providing greater stability to those facing economic hardships to extending to Black World War Two veterans and their descendants the benefits they were denied under the G.I. Bill decades ago.

Judge blocks enforcement of Idaho 'abortion trafficking' law

A U.S. judge has blocked Idaho from enforcing a recently passed law making it a crime to help a minor cross state lines for an abortion without her parents' consent. U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora Grasham in Boise, Idaho, said the law against so-called abortion trafficking, signed by Republican Governor Brad Little in April, violated the rights to free speech and expression under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.