Key Domestic Events: Firings, Polls, Court Rulings, and Political Drama

Recent US domestic news includes the firing of a Florida deputy over a controversial shooting, a Reuters/Ipsos poll highlighting Biden's challenges against Trump, Texas' top court ruling on abortion, USPS stamp price hikes, and political developments involving Trump. Additionally, Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, has passed away.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Florida deputy who shot Black airman is fired, sheriff says

A Florida sheriff's office on Friday fired a deputy who had shot and killed a Black airman with the U.S. Air Force, saying the use of deadly force was not reasonable. That was the conclusion of an internal affairs investigation by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office into the May 3 killing of Roger Fortson, 23, in Fort Walton Beach, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Biden's big weakness vs Trump: Voters without college degrees, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

President Joe Biden is hemorrhaging support among voters without college degrees - a large group that includes Black people, Hispanic women, young voters and suburban women - producing a far tighter rematch against his Republican predecessor Donald Trump than seen in 2020, Reuters/Ipsos polling reveals. Biden's support among voters without a four-year degree is down 10 percentage points, compared to this point in the 2020 campaign, the analysis of around 24,000 registered voter responses to Reuters/Ipsos polls in 2020 and 2024 shows.

Texas top court won't guarantee right to abortion in complicated pregnancies

Texas' highest court on Friday refused to ensure that doctors in the U.S. state are not prosecuted for abortions they believe are necessary in medically complicated pregnancies, rejecting a lawsuit by 22 patients and physicians. The Texas Supreme Court's decision follows an earlier ruling from the court denying a woman's request for an emergency abortion of a non-viable pregnancy. In both cases, plaintiffs said the medical exception to the state's near-total abortion ban was unclear, and left doctors unwilling to perform medically necessary abortions in the face of severe penalties including potentially life in prison.

Agency approves plan to hike US stamp prices to 73 cents

A request by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to raise prices of first-class mail stamps to 73 cents from 68 cents effective July 14 has been approved, regulators said Friday. The plan, announced in April and approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, will raise overall mailing services product prices by 7.8%. USPS said this month it is also seeking an average 25% price hike for high-volume shippers to enter packages for regional delivery through its Parcel Select service.

Trump supporters call for riots and violent retribution after verdict

Supporters of former President Donald Trump, enraged by his conviction on 34 felony counts by a New York jury, flooded pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution and violent retribution. After Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, his supporters responded with dozens of violent online posts, according to a Reuters review of comments on three Trump-aligned websites: the former president's own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win and the Gateway Pundit.

Senator Joe Manchin leaves Democrats, says US 'politics are broken'

Retiring U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a frequent thorn in the side of the Democratic Party, on Friday left the Democrats, decrying "partisan extremism" as he followed in the footsteps of fellow former party maverick Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Like Sinema, Manchin registered as an independent. The 76-year-old West Virginia lawmaker's move will have no practical effect as he, like his Arizona colleague, will continue to caucus with Democrats, who hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate. Republicans, however, are seen as all but certain to win his seat in the Nov. 5 election.

Marian Robinson, mother of Michelle Obama, dies at 86

Marian Robinson, mother of former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, who provided support and stability, especially during the eight years of Barack Obama's presidency, died on Friday, the Obama and Robinson families said. She was 86. Fondly called the "first grandma," Robinson played a pivotal role in helping care for her granddaughters, Malia and Sasha Obama, during their early years at the White House.

Trump says he will appeal historic conviction

Donald Trump said on Friday he would appeal the guilty verdict that made him the first U.S. president convicted of a crime, though he will have to wait until after his sentencing on July 11 before taking that step. In rambling remarks at the Trump Tower lobby in Manhattan where he announced his first presidential run in 2015, Trump repeated his complaints that the trial was a "rigged" attempt to hobble his comeback White House bid and warned that it showed no American was safe from politically motivated prosecution.

An angry Trump vows to keep fighting after guilty verdict

Donald Trump stared down a bank of cameras inside Trump Tower on Friday and delivered a message fitting for both his legal and political battles: He is ready to fight. A day after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 counts related to falsifying documents to hide hush money payments to a porn star, the Republican presidential candidate rattled off a list of adversaries and grievances in angry, rambling remarks.

Analysis-After Trump's conviction, the jury is still out on political damage

Donald Trump made history on Thursday as the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime. But his ultimate judgment won't come until November when he faces America's voters, who have decidedly mixed feelings about voting for a felon. Prior to the trial, surveys conducted by Reuters/Ipsos and other outlets showed that some Republican and independent voters would consider refusing to vote for Trump, a Republican, if he were convicted of a felony.