Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Evanston, Illinois-based Northwestern, which U.S. News & World Report ranks ninth for national universities, runs the program in partnership with Oakton College and the Illinois Department of Corrections. Florida sued over ban on pro-Palestinian student groups The American Civil Liberties Union challenged Florida's ban on pro-Palestinian university groups, arguing in a federal lawsuit on Thursday that the state is violating students' free speech as tensions roil U.S. campuses over Israel's war with Hamas.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Federal jury convicts man in hammer attack on Pelosi's husband

A federal jury on Thursday convicted a right-wing conspiracy theorist of a hammer attack on the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, prosecutors said. David Wayne DePape, 43, broke into the Pelosis' San Francisco home and struck Paul Pelosi over the head with a hammer in the early morning hours of Oct. 28, 2022, while Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, was still speaker and away in Washington.

Republican senators raise 'significant concerns' on US firearms export pause

A group of 46 Republican U.S. senators asked the Commerce Department on Thursday to answer questions about its Oct. 27 decision to temporarily stop issuing export licenses for most civilian firearms and ammunition for non-governmental users. The letter signed by Senators Ted Budd, Mitch McConnell, John Thune and others said they had "significant concerns about the justifications for and ramifications of this pause" and said it "puts at stake U.S. commercial and economic interests" as well as U.S. national security and foreign policy.

Trump 'made his own bed,' cannot add witness for writer's trial - judge

A federal judge rejected Donald Trump's bid to add a new expert witness just two months before a trial addressing how much the former U.S. president owes for defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll, saying Trump "made his own bed" by waiting too long. Trump had claimed he would suffer "extreme prejudice" without a new damages expert for the scheduled Jan. 16, 2024, trial.

South Florida storm dumps more than a foot of rain

A fierce storm packing hurricane-force wind gusts dumped more than a foot (30.5 cm) of rain on parts of South Florida on Thursday, flooding homes and streets, downing power lines and trees and leaving tens of thousands of homes and business without power. The storm, which started on Wednesday, dropped almost 14 inches of rain from Key Largo to Fort Lauderdale while wind gusts topped out at 86 mph (136 kph), the U.S. National Service said on Thursday.

Pressure mounts on FDIC chief to resign after sexual misconduct report

A top U.S. banking regulator faced mounting pressure on Thursday over his handling of allegations of sexual misconduct among agency staff and accounts of his own past conduct, with Republican lawmakers calling for his resignation and vowing to conduct a thorough probe. The calls followed a Wall Street Journal report earlier this week that said the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had failed to eradicate widespread harassment in its workforce.

US Supreme Court keeps pause on Florida's ban on drag shows in front of kids

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday declined to revive a Florida law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis banning the performance of "lewd" drag shows in the presence of children. The justices denied a request by Florida officials to narrow a judge's pause on the law to just a single plaintiff - an Orlando restaurant called Hamburger Mary's - rather than maintain his temporary statewide halt of the measure.

NY appeals court judge pauses gag order in Trump civil fraud case -court document

A New York appeals court judge on Thursday paused a gag order that had barred Donald Trump from speaking publicly about court staff amid the former U.S. president's civil fraud trial.

Appeals court Justice David Friedman said the gag order would be temporarily lifted.

Senior US FDA official Woodcock to retire next year

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Principal Deputy Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, who led the regulator during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as acting chief, plans to retire early next year, the agency said on Thursday. Woodcock, 75, is an FDA veteran who twice led its pharmaceutical division for at least a decade in each instance. There she reshaped the drug approval process, relaxing the criteria needed for certain drugs to reach the market.

For the first time, US prisoners graduate from top university

Northwestern University's Prison Education Program welcomed its inaugural graduating class of incarcerated students on Wednesday, marking the first time a top-ranked U.S. university has awarded degrees to students in prison. Evanston, Illinois-based Northwestern, which U.S. News & World Report ranks ninth for national universities, runs the program in partnership with Oakton College and the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Florida sued over ban on pro-Palestinian student groups

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged Florida's ban on pro-Palestinian university groups, arguing in a federal lawsuit on Thursday that the state is violating students' free speech as tensions roil U.S. campuses over Israel's war with Hamas. Florida's university system, joined by Governor Ron DeSantis, last month ordered colleges to shut down chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a group at the center of U.S. campus activism since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

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