Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The court, with a 6-3 conservative majority that has shown increasing assertiveness including in June rulings curtailing abortion access and expanding gun rights, heard about three hours of arguments in an important environmental case and a dispute among states over unclaimed property. U.S. Supreme Court leans toward limiting wetlands regulation Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared open to limiting the reach of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to protect wetlands from pollution under a landmark environmental law in a case involving Idaho property owners seeking to build a home.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Hurricane Ian death toll climbs to 83, officials defend response

The death toll from Hurricane Ian climbed past 80 on Sunday as embattled residents in Florida and the Carolinas faced a recovery expected to cost tens of billions of dollars, and some officials faced criticism over their response to the storm.

The death toll was expected to keep rising as floodwaters receded and search teams pushed farther into areas initially cut off from the outside world. Hundreds of people have been rescued as emergency workers sifted through homes and buildings inundated with water or completely washed away.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Pennsylvania electoral map

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a Republican former congressman's challenge to a map charting Pennsylvania's U.S. House of Representatives districts that the state's highest court adopted in place of one drawn up by Republican lawmakers. The justices declined to hear an appeal of a ruling by Pennsylvania's top court endorsing a map backed by a group of Democratic voters after Democratic Governor Tom Wolf vetoed a plan passed by the majority-Republican state legislature.

U.S. Supreme Court's Jackson emerges as energetic questioner on first day

President Joe Biden's history-making appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson settled into her role as the Supreme Court's newest justice on Monday by posing frequent questions during arguments on her first day of hearing cases, as the top U.S. judicial body launched what promises to be a momentous new nine-month term. The court, with a 6-3 conservative majority that has shown increasing assertiveness including in June rulings curtailing abortion access and expanding gun rights, heard about three hours of arguments in an important environmental case and a dispute among states over unclaimed property.

U.S. Supreme Court leans toward limiting wetlands regulation

Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared open to limiting the reach of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to protect wetlands from pollution under a landmark environmental law in a case involving Idaho property owners seeking to build a home. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, heard arguments in the case on the first day of its new term.

New York City office leasing surges; still below pre-pandemic levels

New York City's office market rebounded in the third quarter from a year earlier, though leasing remained below levels seen before the rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and higher interest rates and a strong dollar dampened new investment in the sector. Office leasing volume rose 27.6% to 9.23 million square feet, the strongest quarterly gain since the end of 2019 – a gangbuster year for leasing in New York, according to Colliers International Group Inc.

Trump objects to expediting appeal in special master case -court documents

Donald Trump on Monday objected to a Justice Department request for an expedited ruling in the special master case involving documents seized by the FBI in an August search of the former president's Florida home. "The government has not and cannot possibly articulate any real risk of loss or harm resulting from a more deliberative process," Trump's lawyers said in a filing in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trump sues CNN claiming defamation, seeks $475 million in punitive damages

Former U.S. president Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday, seeking $475 million in punitive damages and claiming the network had carried out a "campaign of libel and slander" against him. Trump claims in his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that CNN had used its considerable influence as a leading news organization to defeat him politically.

Tillerson testifies he was unaware of Trump ally Barrack's role in foreign policy

Former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testified on Monday in the criminal trial of a onetime fundraiser for Donald Trump that he was unaware of any role played by the Trump ally in U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Thomas Barrack, 75, has pleaded not guilty to charges he used his influence with the Trump campaign and administration to push the United Arab Emirates' interests without notifying the U.S. attorney general, as required by law.

Oath Keeper leader spoke of 'civil war' ahead of Jan. 6 Capitol attack-U.S. prosecutors

Prosecutors on Monday urged a jury to convict Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four others for their roles in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, alleging they plotted to do whatever it took to prevent the transfer of presidential power. "They concocted a plan for an armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of American democracy," prosecutor Jeff Nestler said on Monday in an opening statement at their trial in federal court in Washington.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to ban on gun 'bump stocks'

The U.S. Supreme Court, which expanded gun rights in a major decision in June, on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a federal ban on devices called "bump stocks" that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire like a machine gun - a firearms control measure prompted by a 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting. The justices turned away appeals by a Utah gun lobbyist named Clark Aposhian and firearms rights groups of lower court rulings upholding the ban as a reasonable interpretation of a federal law prohibiting machine gun possession.

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