Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The date all but ensures that Trump will become the first-ever former U.S. president to go on trial for criminal charges. Republican Sen. Murkowski won't back Trump, does not rule out leaving party Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she cannot back her party's nominee for the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump, and did not rule out becoming an independent.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Will you be able to buy Trump Tower at auction? Not anytime soon

New York state could start seizing Donald Trump's properties if he doesn't post a bond by Monday to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment, but it may be well over a year before Trump Tower and other prized real estate holdings are on the chopping block. Seizing the former U.S president's sprawling real estate empire, which includes Trump Tower in Manhattan, a 370-acre estate in Westchester and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, would not entail sheriff's deputies storming the lobby of Trump's buildings or chiseling the real estate mogul's name off of facades.

Florida's DeSantis signs law restricting social media for people under 16

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that bans children aged under 14 from social media platforms and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent, a measure supporters say will protect them from online risks to their mental health. The measure requires social media platforms to terminate the accounts of people under 14 and those of people under 16 who do not have parental consent. It requires them to use a third-party verification system to screen out those who are underage.

Baseball-Ohtani says interpreter stole money, denies knowledge of gambling debts

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani said on Monday he was the victim of theft by his former interpreter and that he had never bet on baseball or knowingly paid a bookmaker in his first public remarks since the gambling scandal broke last week.

Ohtani's statement was the Japanese ballplayer's first remarks since the allegations of "massive theft" against Ippei Mizuhara surfaced, leading to the interpreter's firing by the team.

Trump wins pause of $454 million civil fraud ruling, averting asset seizures

Donald Trump won a bid on Monday to pause his $454 million civil fraud judgment if he posts a smaller $175 million bond within 10 days, in a victory for the former U.S. president that blocks New York state authorities from taking steps to seize his assets. The decision by a mid-level state appeals court eases an acute cash crunch for Trump, who has said he would be forced to sell assets at "fire sale prices" to post bond in the case.

In US crackdown, Ohio man gets prison for threatening Arizona election official

A man was sentenced on Monday to two and a half years in prison for harassing an Arizona election official, part of an effort by federal prosecutors to crack down on threats to public officials ahead of the November election. Joshua Russell, an Ohio resident who pleaded guilty to making an interstate threatening communication, left three threatening voicemails in 2022 for the office of then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat now serving as the state's governor, according to Justice Department officials.

Trump's Stormy Daniels hush money trial to start on April 15, judge rules

Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star will begin on April 15, a judge said on Monday, paving the way for the Republican presidential candidate to either be convicted or cleared before the Nov. 5 election. The date all but ensures that Trump will become the first-ever former U.S. president to go on trial for criminal charges.

Republican Sen. Murkowski won't back Trump, does not rule out leaving party

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she cannot back her party's nominee for the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump, and did not rule out becoming an independent. "I wish that as Republicans, we had ... a nominee that I could get behind," Murkowski told CNN. "I certainly can't get behind Donald Trump."

US Supreme Court abortion pill fight brings claims of distorted science

The abortion opponents who are seeking to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone point to three studies by Gynuity Health Projects, a New York-based women's health research group, to back up their arguments that it is unsafe despite its regulatory approval decades ago. But the way the research has been prominently cited by the plaintiffs in their bid to limit how the pill is prescribed and distributed is bewildering to Dr. Beverly Winikoff, Gynuity's president, given that the conclusions broadly support easier access to the medication.

Trump to face jurors in April before facing US voters in November

A New York judge's decision on Monday to set an April 15 trial date for Donald Trump's criminal hush-money case ups the odds the former president will face at least one verdict that could complicate his bid to retake the White House on Nov. 5. In another New York courtroom on Monday, a ruling in a separate case bought Trump some financial breathing room as he tries to build a campaign war chest and keep his real-estate empire intact.

Federal Reserve expected to cut rates, lift Biden's prospects

The U.S. Federal Reserve looks on track to cut interest rates as the presidential campaign season heats up, potentially delivering President Joe Biden a boost as polls show Americans dislike his handling of the economy. The Fed could play an outsized - and potentially uncomfortable - election-year role by helping shape attitudes about stubbornly high inflation and mounting housing costs that have been a drag on Biden's reelection efforts. Rate cuts will also invite critics - Republican challenger Donald Trump chief among them - to argue an agency set up to be an independent monetary authority is tipping the political scales toward Biden.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)