US Domestic News: Key Updates on Trials, Elections, and Policy Moves

Catch up with major US news: Trump's legal defense in the hush money trial, California's top court reviewing app-based driver laws, FDIC Chair stepping down, Biden's fundraising falling behind Trump, and pro-Palestinian protests at Yale commencement.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump's lawyers to mount defense in hush money trial if case is not dismissed

Donald Trump's lawyers will mount their defense on Tuesday in the former president's hush money trial, unless the judge overseeing the case agrees to dismiss it outright - an unlikely development. Trump's lawyers have asked Justice Juan Merchan to dismiss the case before it reaches the jury, arguing that it rests on the testimony of a witness, the estranged former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, who has a well-documented history of lying.

California court to weigh fate of law treating app-based drivers as contractors

California's top state court on Tuesday will consider a labor union's challenge to a ballot measure allowing app-based services such as Uber and Lyft to classify drivers in the state as independent contractors rather than as employees with more benefits. The seven-member California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in San Francisco in a lawsuit by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and four drivers who say the 2020 ballot measure known as Proposition 22 was unconstitutional.

FDIC chair Gruenberg says he will step down once successor is announced

U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chair Martin Gruenberg said on Monday he planned to step down, finally succumbing to a months-long scandal over sexual harassment and other misconduct at the top bank regulator. Gruenberg, whose five-year term ends in 2028, said he would step down once a successor is confirmed. The White House will soon put forward a nominee to replace him, deputy press secretary Sam Michel said in a statement.

Biden campaign's fundraising lags Trump for the first time in April

President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign's fundraising in April lagged rival Donald Trump's for the first time, after the former president ramped up his joint operation with the Republican National Committee and headlined high-dollar fundraisers. The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised more than $51 million in April, the campaign said, lower than the $90 million they raised in March and less than $76 million Donald Trump and the Republican Party reported taking in for the month.

Factbox-Eleven US House of Representatives races to watch in 2024

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will defend a narrow majority in the Nov. 5 elections. Below are some of the races to watch as Republicans and Democrats battle through 2024 for control of the chamber. REPLACING KEVIN MCCARTHY

Yale graduates stage pro-Palestinian walkout of commencement

Scores of graduating students staged a walkout from Yale University's commencement exercises on Monday, protesting the Israeli war in Gaza, Yale's financial ties to weapons makers and its response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the Ivy League campus. The walkout began as Yale President Peter Salovey started to announce the traditional college-by-college presentation of candidates for degrees on the grounds of Yale's Old Campus, filled with thousands of graduates in their caps and gowns.

Biden reaches out to Republican leaders for support of border bill

President Joe Biden on Monday urged Republican leaders in the House and Senate to support a revived bipartisan bill on border security, even as House Speaker Mike Johnson declared the bill would be "dead on arrival." Democrats are again trying to pass the Border Act, which they say would reform U.S. asylum laws, hire thousands of border agents and help curtail fentanyl smuggling.

China sanctions ex-US lawmaker and supporter of Taiwan

China has banned former U.S. lawmaker Mike Gallagher from entering the country and taken other measures in response to his words and actions that "interfered in China's internal affairs", the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. China will freeze Gallagher's assets in the country and ban organisations and individuals there from trading and cooperating with him, the ministry said.

Blinken to testify to US Congress under shadow of Israel policy divides

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to make his case for President Joe Biden's $64 billion foreign affairs budget request in four congressional hearings this week, amid deep divides with Republicans over spending priorities and Israel policy. Blinken testifies on Tuesday in the Democratic-controlled Senate to the Foreign Relations Committee and to the appropriations subcommittee that oversees diplomatic and foreign aid spending.

Key Trump donor Mellon gives RFK Jr super PAC $5 million more

A super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr's presidential campaign received $5 million in April from Timothy Mellon, the latest donation the 81-year-old banking heir has made to the independent candidate, according to a monthly filing released on Monday. The donation from Mellon, who has been a key backer of Republican candidate Donald Trump in recent years, to the Kennedy-supporting American Values 2024 comes after already giving at least $20 million to the Kennedy super PAC.