Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Gay had come under pressure to resign from Harvard's Jewish community and some members of Congress over her comments at the Dec. 5 congressional hearing, while also facing several allegations of plagiarism for her academic work in recent months. Takeaways from the 2024 US election trail: Dueling TV events, attack ads Iowa Republicans will have dueling televised events to choose from on Jan. 10 as they consider which candidate they want to face Joe Biden in November's presidential election: the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, going solo on one news channel or his two closest rivals squaring off against each other.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Texas can ban emergency abortions despite federal guidance, court rules

The U.S. government cannot enforce federal guidance in Texas requiring emergency room doctors to perform abortions if necessary to stabilize emergency room patients, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, siding with the state in a lawsuit accusing President Joe Biden's administration of overstepping its authority. The ruling by a unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes amid a wave of lawsuits focusing on when abortions can be provided in states whose abortion bans have exceptions for medical emergencies.

White House turns to US Supreme Court in Texas razor-wire border dispute

President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked it from destroying razor wire fencing Texas placed along its border with Mexico to deter illegal border crossings. The administration asked the justices to halt a December ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prohibited Border Patrol agents from cutting or moving the disputed fencing while litigation plays out.

Harvard President Gay resigns after rocky testimony, plagiarism allegations

Harvard President Claudine Gay said she would resign from her position on Tuesday, ending a six-month tenure marred by allegations of plagiarism and backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus. Gay had come under pressure to resign from Harvard's Jewish community and some members of Congress over her comments at the Dec. 5 congressional hearing, while also facing several allegations of plagiarism for her academic work in recent months.

Takeaways from the 2024 US election trail: Dueling TV events, attack ads

Iowa Republicans will have dueling televised events to choose from on Jan. 10 as they consider which candidate they want to face Joe Biden in November's presidential election: the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, going solo on one news channel or his two closest rivals squaring off against each other. On Tuesday, CNN announced that only Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley had qualified for its debate next week in Des Moines, the final chance for a national face-off before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15.

US Senator Menendez helped businessman with Qatar investment -indictment

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez helped a New Jersey businessman seek an investment from a Qatari company with ties to the Middle Eastern country's government, prosecutors said on Tuesday in an indictment against the Democratic lawmaker. Menendez had pleaded not guilty in October to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government, and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from New Jersey businessmen to impede law enforcement probes they faced.

Trump appeals disqualification from Maine primary ballot

Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed a decision from Maine’s top election official disqualifying him from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot next year over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a court filing showed. Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for November's U.S. presidential election, asked a state Superior Court to reverse a decision from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows barring Trump from the March 5 primary ballot.

Suspect in New Year's crash in upstate New York dead, no link to terrorism found

A 35-year-old suspect who plowed an SUV full of gasoline canisters into a crowd of New Year's Eve revelers outside a concert in upstate New York died overnight, police in the city of Rochester said on Tuesday. Authorities have not identified a motive or any link to terrorism that could have prompted the suspect, Michael Avery, to carry out the attack that killed 2 people and injured nine early on Monday, said Rochester Police Chief David Smith at a briefing. Conversations with his family suggested he might have had "undiagnosed mental health issues," Smith said.

Biden unplugged: President goes off-script in election fundraisers

As president, Joe Biden has relied heavily on Teleprompters and pre-written scripts for his public speeches, a mostly disciplined approach that's been in sharp contrast to his decades of free-wheeling, sometimes less-than-diplomatic remarks. But holding a microphone in a room of donors who support his 2024 re-election campaign, Democrat Biden in recent months has dug into the Chinese government, the Republican Party and U.S. ally Israel for its bombing of the Gaza Strip.

Suspect arrested after breaking into Colorado Supreme Court building

A man was arrested on Tuesday after police said he broke into the Colorado Supreme Court building in Denver with a handgun and set a fire in a stairwell. Police arrested Brandon Olsen, 44, on charges of arson, robbery and burglary, saying he had fled the scene of a car crash shortly after 1 a.m. before shooting out a window of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in downtown Denver and breaking in.

Factbox-Who is Ron DeSantis, 2024 US presidential candidate?

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once seen as Donald Trump's leading rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, needs a solid performance in the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus, the first party nominating contest, to save his struggling campaign. DeSantis trails former President Trump by over 30 points and needs to place a strong second. A blowout loss or third-place finish behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley would raise questions about the future of his candidacy.