Reuters US Domestic News Summary

On Thursday in remarks made at Hillsdale College in Michigan, DeSantis said the legislature would void changes Disney made shortly before it lost control of the board. Tennessee Democratic lawmakers expelled over gun control protest hope to reclaim seats Two Tennessee Democrats who were expelled from the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives last week over their participation in a gun control protest said on Sunday that they hoped to soon reclaim their seats.

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."

U.S. Senator Blumenthal fractures leg, to undergo 'routine' surgery

Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal fractured his leg in a mishap at a University of Connecticut parade on Saturday and will undergo surgery this weekend, he said on Twitter. The U.S. Senate stands adjourned until April 17. If the surgery goes as planned, the 77-year-old Connecticut Senator should not miss any votes.

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.

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.

U.S. searches for source of highly-classified intel leak

Highly classified military and intelligence documents that appeared online, with details ranging from Ukraine's air defenses to Israel's Mossad spy agency, have U.S. officials scrambling to identify the leak's source, with some Western security experts and U.S. officials saying they suspected it could be someone from the United States. Officials say the breadth of topics addressed in the documents, which touch on the war in Ukraine, China, the Middle East and Africa, suggest they were leaked by an American rather than an ally.

Harris backs expelled Tennessee lawmakers, chides Republicans for ousting them

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris flew to Nashville on Friday in a show of support for Tennessee state lawmakers expelled for staging a rule-breaking demonstration for gun control on the statehouse floor after a recent school shooting. Republicans who control the Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday expelled two young Black lawmakers who last week led protesters into the well of the House floor, while a resolution to remove a white representative came up one vote short.

Ron DeSantis takes aim at Disney, vows to void Florida theme park development agreement

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ramped up his fight against Walt Disney Co, seeking to void an agreement that Disney passed to limit the power of a board appointed by DeSantis to oversee its Florida theme park property. On Thursday in remarks made at Hillsdale College in Michigan, DeSantis said the legislature would void changes Disney made shortly before it lost control of the board.

Tennessee Democratic lawmakers expelled over gun control protest hope to reclaim seats

Two Tennessee Democrats who were expelled from the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives last week over their participation in a gun control protest said on Sunday that they hoped to soon reclaim their seats. Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who joined hundreds of protesters at the state capitol in Nashville to demand stricter gun laws four days after a mass shooting at a local school, told NBC's Meet the Press that they hoped to be reappointed by their districts to serve in their seats until they could run again in special elections.

U.S. to test faster asylum screenings for migrants crossing border illegally

The Biden administration next week will begin testing faster asylum screenings for migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, the Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday, part of preparations for the end of COVID-19 border restrictions in May. U.S. asylum officers will conduct initial asylum screenings for a small number of migrants within days while they remain in the custody of border authorities, Homeland Security spokesperson Marsha Espinosa said. The interviews will take place over the phone and migrants will have access to legal counsel during the screenings, she said.

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.

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