Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Trump's lawyers in court papers presented the former U.S. president's main arguments against a Colorado Supreme Court Dec. 19 ruling barring him from the primary ballot over his actions around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, citing the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. US defense chief Austin asked to testify over hospitalization non-disclosure The chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Thursday asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to testify before the panel over the failure to timely disclose his recent hospitalization, even to President Joe Biden.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Pennsylvania cannot bar adults under 21 from carrying guns, court rules

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that Pennsylvania laws that ban 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying firearms in public during a state of emergency are unconstitutional, citing a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 2-1 vote held that the right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment extended to adults under the age of 21.

Trump's defamation hurt my status, writer E. Jean Carroll testifies

E. Jean Carroll, the writer seeking millions of dollars from Donald Trump for defamation, on Thursday forcefully rejected suggestions that her reputation has been enhanced in the years since she publicly accused the former U.S. president of rape. Carroll, 80, acknowledged at her civil damages trial that she has received more attention from media outlets and celebrities since publicizing her rape claim in June 2019 - but said she has also been widely disparaged.

US Minuteman III missile replacement breaks $96 billion budget, triggers Pentagon review

The replacement for the ground-based U.S. nuclear arsenal anchored by the Minuteman III has officially busted through its $95.8 billion budget due to the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, the Air Force said on Thursday. The Air Force is notifying Congress that the program, being designed and managed by Northrop Grumman Corp, is now at least 37% over a pre-pandemic cost estimate finalized in September 2020, Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, told Reuters in an interview.

Trump steps up attacks on Haley, courts her donors ahead of New Hampshire contest

Donald Trump and his allies are going all out to deal Republican rival Nikki Haley a back-breaking blow in next week’s New Hampshire primary, courting her donors, bashing her in TV ads and using racial-themed dog whistles that mock her heritage.

The multi-pronged effort is a sure sign that Trump’s presidential election campaign views Haley as a threat they must neutralize quickly. Trump associates have been reaching out to Haley’s top contributors, telling them the race for the Republican nomination is essentially over and suggesting it is time to come into the fold.

Biden allies plot to thwart third-party bids that threaten his reelection

American Bridge is the Democratic Party’s primary opposition research organization, spending tens of millions of dollars to track Republican rivals and produce attack ads. But in 2024, the deep-pocketed ally of President Joe Biden is adding a new role that could help shape the Nov. 5 presidential election: third-party suppressor.

Florida public university system to vote on defunding diversity programs

Florida's public university system will decide next Wednesday whether to ban diversity spending and remove sociology classes as a way to fulfill social-science course requirements, a week after the state education board approved the measures for public colleges. The new rules, which easily passed in a Florida Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, would bring the state's public higher education institutions in line with a bill that Governor Ron DeSantis signed in May.

Texas school shooting victims 'deserved better' from police, US review finds

Police failed in their response to the 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers, the U.S. Justice Department concluded on Thursday, saying the victims "deserved better." The report faulted law enforcement officers for waiting more than an hour to breach the classroom where the 18-year-old gunman was holed up with 33 students and three teachers, despite calls for help from the children.

Biden, Harris to begin abortion rights campaign on Roe v. Wade anniversary

Democrats are set to kick off an abortion rights campaign next week on the 51st anniversary of the now-overturned Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling, with speeches by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as well as advertisements focused on women affected by Republican-backed abortion bans. With Biden running for re-election in November and his party seeking to defend its majority in the Senate and regain control of the House of Representatives, Democrats are hoping the issue of abortion rights will prove to be a winner at the ballot box.

Trump urges US Supreme Court to reverse Colorado ballot disqualification

Donald Trump's lawyers urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to reverse a judicial decision disqualifying the former president from Colorado's Republican primary ballot as the justices prepare to tackle the politically explosive case. Trump's lawyers in court papers presented the former U.S. president's main arguments against a Colorado Supreme Court Dec. 19 ruling barring him from the primary ballot over his actions around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, citing the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

US defense chief Austin asked to testify over hospitalization non-disclosure

The chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Thursday asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to testify before the panel over the failure to timely disclose his recent hospitalization, even to President Joe Biden. Austin had been in a hospital receiving treatment for prostrate cancer since the beginning of the year. His failure to timely tell Biden he was hospitalized drew criticism from lawmakers and caught the White House by surprise.