Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. prosecutors charge suspect in Hanukkah stabbing rampage with hate crime

Federal prosecutors filed hate-crime charges on Monday against the man accused of a stabbing rampage at the New York-area home of a Hasidic rabbi during a Hanukkah celebration, saying he kept journals with references to Adolf Hitler and "Nazi culture." Grafton Thomas, 37, a former U.S. Marine with a history of severe mental illness, according to his attorney, entered no plea during his brief initial federal court hearing in White Plains, New York, and was ordered to remain in custody. Explainer: How Trump's impeachment trial would differ from a criminal one

U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 19 became the third U.S. president to be impeached when the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to charge him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Republican-controlled Senate is due to weigh these charges in a trial in January. In the unlikely event he is found guilty, Trump would be removed from office. Democratic contender Biden says he would consider a Republican running mate

Former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said on Monday he would consider choosing a Republican running mate if he is the party’s nominee next year. However, even as he raised the possibility of a Republican running mate while speaking to a crowd at a campaign event in Exeter, New Hampshire, Biden said, “But I can’t think of one right now.” Judge tosses ex-White House aide's lawsuit over impeachment testimony

A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by former White House aide Charles Kupperman seeking guidance on whether he needed to comply with a congressional subpoena in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington said Kupperman's lawsuit was "moot" because a U.S. House of Representatives committee withdrew a subpoena seeking his testimony. Sarah Palin says NY Times editor's animosity led to defamation

Sarah Palin said in an amended defamation lawsuit against the New York Times on Monday that the deep-seated "animosity and ill-will" of the newspaper's editorial page editor toward her motivated him to falsely link her to a mass shooting. Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor, made her claim against the editor, James Bennet, nearly five months after the federal appeals court in Manhattan revived her lawsuit, saying it had been wrongly dismissed by the trial judge. Explainer: The case for Trump's impeachment - and the case against it

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted on Dec. 19 to formally charge President Donald Trump, a Republican, with "high crimes and misdemeanors," making him only the third U.S. president in history to be impeached. That sets up a trial in January in the Republican-run Senate, where he is expected to be acquitted. Texas church shooter wore wig and fake beard, says security head who shot him

A man wearing a wig and fake beard raised suspicion when he walked into a church service in Texas before opening fire with a shotgun and killing two people, a volunteer security guard who shot the assailant said on Monday. The victims of Sunday's shooting, identified as Anton Wallace, 64, of Fort Worth and Richard White, 67, of River Oaks, were also members of the civilian security force at West Freeway Church of Christ, the state's attorney general said. Shooter among two dead in Texas church attack

A gunman who opened fire in a Texas church, killing one person and leaving another in critical condition, died after parishioners at the Sunday morning service shot him in response, authorities said. The Fort Worth Fire Department said three people, including the person who they believed to be the shooter, were transported from the scene in critical condition. The scene was secure, they added. U.S. presidential candidate Sanders given clean bill of health after October heart attack

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders passed a stress test this month after a heart attack required him to have two stents inserted in an artery in October, doctors to the Democratic presidential candidate said on Monday. Sanders' campaign released letters from his main doctor and two heart specialists, who all gave the 78-year-old White House hopeful a clean bill of health after physical exams, electrocardiogram monitoring and a treadmill stress test. Uber, Postmates sue to block California gig worker law, claiming it's unconstitutional

Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc and courier services provider Postmates Inc asked a U.S. court to block a California labor law set to go into effect on Wednesday, arguing the bill violates the U.S. Constitution. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court on Monday, the companies and two app-based drivers said the law, which would make it harder for gig economy companies to qualify their workers as independent contractors rather than employees, was irrational, vague and incoherent.