US Domestic News Roundup: Texas governor seeks pardon of man convicted of murder in Black Lives Matter shooting; Democratic lawmaker Ocasio-Cortez wants US Supreme Court Justice Thomas impeached and more

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's ruling on Friday, which followed a March 15 hearing, was a preliminary injunction that would essentially ban sales of mifepristone while the case by anti-abortion groups before him continues in the Northern District of Texas. In Fox-Dominion defamation trial, jury to weigh executives' role One of the most closely watched U.S. defamation cases in decades is set to begin on Thursday as a Delaware court picks a jury to decide whether Fox News should pay Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion for spreading election-rigging falsehoods.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Texas governor seeks pardon of man convicted of murder in Black Lives Matter shooting

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Saturday he is seeking the pardon of an Uber driver convicted of murder a day earlier in the July 2020 shooting death of a man at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, the state capital. Abbott, in a post on Twitter, said he will pardon Daniel Perry, 37, a U.S. Army sergeant, as soon as a request from the parole board "hits my desk."

Democratic lawmaker Ocasio-Cortez wants US Supreme Court Justice Thomas impeached

Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Sunday she wants Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached and his advisers probed after a media report described luxury trips he has taken over decades, funded by a Republican donor. "It is the House's responsibility to pursue that investigation in the form of impeachment," she told CNN in an interview. However, she acknowledged progress was unlikely since the House of Representatives has a Republican majority that would not want to take action against a conservative justice.

Intel leak has U.S. officials bracing for impact at home and abroad

The U.S. national security community is grappling with fallout from the release of dozens of secret documents, including the impact on sensitive information-sharing within the government and ties with other countries, two U.S. officials said. Reuters has reviewed more than 50 of these documents, labeled "Secret" and "Top Secret", that first appeared on social media websites in early March and purportedly reveal details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities and information about allies including Israel, South Korea and Turkey. The material did not draw much notice until a New York Times article on Friday.

Fox News settles with Venezuelan businessman in election defamation lawsuit

Fox News said on Sunday it has reached a settlement with a Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, ending a defamation case in which Khalil said he was falsely accused on air of helping to rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election against Donald Trump. Khalil had filed a defamation suit against the news outlet and former host Lou Dobbs, arguing in filings that they had fabricated claims he and other Venezuelans were involved in "orchestrating a non-existent scheme to rig or fix the election" against the former Republican president.

White House plans support for drugstores, pharma in abortion pill battle -sources

The White House is planning to re-up discussions with abortion pill manufacturers and U.S. pharmacy chains on ways to push back against efforts to ban mifepristone, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as it appeals a Texas court ruling suspending the approval of the drug. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, on Friday suspended approval of mifepristone, which will essentially make sales of the pill illegal in the U.S., while a legal challenge proceeds. A conflicting Washington state ruling on Friday blocks changes to pill sales in 17 states.

Analysis-Texas abortion pill ruling could undermine US drug regulator

A federal judge's decision last week to suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of abortion pill mifepristone could severely weaken the agency if allowed to stand, health policy and legal experts said. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's ruling on Friday, which followed a March 15 hearing, was a preliminary injunction that would essentially ban sales of mifepristone while the case by anti-abortion groups before him continues in the Northern District of Texas.

In Fox-Dominion defamation trial, jury to weigh executives' role

One of the most closely watched U.S. defamation cases in decades is set to begin on Thursday as a Delaware court picks a jury to decide whether Fox News should pay Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion for spreading election-rigging falsehoods. A critical task for jurors over the five-week trial will be deciding who was responsible for the cable network's decision to broadcast the claims despite internal doubts about their veracity. Dominion asserts that Fox's top brass approved of the coverage, but the network says the evidence of high-level involvement is threadbare.

Battle over Biden labor nominee Julie Su heats up

"Biden nominee Julie Su wants to turn the lights off" reads a billboard in West Virginia; another in Montana warns that Su, U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee for labor secretary, will turn the state into California; in Arizona, the message is, "Su's gig could be destroying your gig." In addition to these, newspaper and digital advertisements will start appearing with more frequency in these states as her confirmation hearing date set for April 20 approaches. The White House and the administration have been touting Su's history of fighting for underpaid workers, while industry groups against her policies have begun to aggressively oppose her.

Nashville-area board may return Democratic lawmaker who was expelled from Republican-controlled statehouse

A Nashville-area county council may return to the statehouse one of two Democratic Tennessee lawmakers who were expelled from the chamber last week over a gun control protest when it meets on Monday to fill the vacant seat. Republicans who control the state House of Representatives on Thursday voted to kick out Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two Black men who recently joined the legislature, over their rule-breaking protest on the House floor on March 30.

School's transgender policy trumped teacher's religious rights, U.S. court rules

An Indiana high school did not break the law by allegedly forcing a music teacher to quit after he refused on religious grounds to use transgender students' preferred names, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday. The rights of the teacher, John Kluge, to exercise his religious beliefs were outweighed by the potential disruption that his conduct could have on the learning environment at Brownsburg High School in the Indianapolis suburbs, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.

(With inputs from agencies.)