US Domestic News Highlights: Key Events and Legal Battles

This summary of current US domestic news explores significant events, including the NTSB's inspection of a ship that struck a Maryland bridge, Julian Assange's plea deal on an espionage charge, and other legal and political updates. Key issues range from transgender rights to student debt relief and ongoing Supreme Court cases.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

NTSB inspecting key components from ship that struck Maryland bridge

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday it is inspecting key electrical components that were removed from the cargo ship Dali that crashed into a Maryland bridge in March, killing six people and destroying the Patapsco River crossing. In May, the NTSB said the Dali lost electrical power several times before the crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, including experiencing a blackout during in-port maintenance and shortly before the crash.

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to be freed after pleading guilty to US Espionage Act charge

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty this week to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to return home to Australia, ending a long legal odyssey. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.

Harris, Democrats aim at Trump on abortion ruling anniversary

President Joe Biden's campaign used the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision overturning abortion rights on Monday to spotlight Donald Trump's role in the ruling, as Democrats zero in on the issue ahead of November's election. Vice President Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor, said Trump was "guilty" of taking away reproductive rights from women. First Lady Jill Biden and other Democrats also speaking on Monday hope to mobilize volunteers and voters around protecting the patchwork remains of abortion access in the country.

US Supreme Court to hear challenge to ban on transgender care for minors

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide the legality of a Republican-backed ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, as the justices waded into another contentious issue implicating LGBT rights. They took up an appeal by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration of a lower court's decision upholding Tennessee's ban on medical treatments including hormones and surgeries for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. The court will hear the case in its next term, which begins in October.

Analysis-US Supreme Court divisions expected to be exposed as final rulings loom

The U.S. Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, managed to bridge its ideological divide in major rulings this month involving constitutional gun rights and access to the abortion pill, but that could change as the court heads into what may be the final week of its term. Decisions are due in major cases involving Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity from prosecution, an Idaho abortion ban that makes no exception to protect the health of pregnant women, and a doctrine called "Chevron deference" that long has bolstered federal regulations against legal challenges. Those cases are expected to once again expose the fault lines between the court's conservative and liberal justices.

US judges block parts of key Biden student debt plan

Two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday sided with several Republican-led states and partially blocked Democratic President Joe Biden's administration from moving forward with a key student debt relief initiative that would cost billions of dollars. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Wichita, Kansas, blocked the U.S. Department of Education from proceeding with parts of a plan set to take effect July 1 designed to lower monthly payments and speed up loan forgiveness for millions of Americans.

Louisiana is sued for requiring display of Ten Commandments in classrooms

Louisiana was sued on Monday over a new law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms in the state. The complaint said displaying the Ten Commandments violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and "simply cannot be reconciled with the fundamental religious-freedom principles that animated the founding of our nation."

Biden takes fresh immigration moves into debate with Trump

U.S. President Joe Biden heads into a crucial debate with rival Donald Trump this week armed with new immigration and border policies that his backers hope will boost his standing among skeptical voters. Biden announced two major policy moves in June that seek to address migration challenges and woo the electorate: an asylum ban to cut illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border and a sweeping legalization for long-term residents married to U.S. citizens.

Hunter Biden requests new federal gun trial

Lawyers for Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, said on Monday his trial on federal gun charges went forward prematurely earlier this month and must be done over again. Hunter Biden became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a felony on June 11 after a jury found him guilty on all three counts related to his lying about illegal drug use when he purchased a handgun in 2018.

Judge skeptical of requests to muzzle Trump attacks on FBI

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified-documents case reacted skeptically on Monday to a request from prosecutors to bar the former president from making statements that could endanger law enforcement agents who have worked on the case. At a hearing in federal court in Florida, U.S. Judge Aileen Cannon pressed prosecutors for evidence that Trump's false claims that the FBI had been authorized to assassinate him has led to violent threats against agents working on the case.

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