US Supreme Court's Conservative Actions and Biden-Trump Debate Fallout

The US Supreme Court's conservative majority is curbing federal regulatory power. President Biden's fundraising efforts aim to counter a poor debate showing, while Trump seeks criminal immunity and attacks Biden's immigration policies. Iowa enforces a six-week abortion ban, and the Supreme Court raises legal bars for obstruction charges in election cases.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US Supreme Court's conservatives flex muscles to curb regulatory agencies

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority trained its legal firepower this term on curbing federal regulatory authority, cementing its critical role in a longstanding effort by business interests and others to defang the "administrative state." The court's sweeping rulings have limited the federal government's power to regulate everything from stock trading to pollution, even as the justices opted not to further curtail abortion rights or expand gun rights under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Biden hits fundraising trail in show of strength after dismal debate performance

President Joe Biden embarked on a series of fundraising events across two states on Saturday as he works to stamp out a crisis of confidence in his re-election campaign following a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats. The events are being held as many nervous Democratic donors are lamenting Biden's weak showing against Republican rival Donald Trump on Thursday night and wondering what, if anything, they could do to change the course of the race, according to interviews with more than a dozen Democratic fundraisers.

US Supreme Court's slow pace on immunity makes Trump trial before election unlikely

Donald Trump's bid for criminal immunity from prosecution for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss is set to be decided on Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court. But however it rules, the court already has helped the former president in his effort to avoid trial before the Nov. 5 election. The ruling from the court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump, will be released 20 weeks after he sought relief from the justices. The timeline of the ruling likely does not leave enough time for Special Counsel Jack Smith to try Trump on the federal four-count indictment obtained last August and for a jury to reach a verdict before voters head to the polls.

Iowa can enforce six-week abortion ban, US state's top court rules

Iowa can enforce a ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, the state's highest court ruled on Friday, reversing a lower court order that had blocked the law from taking effect. The 4-3 ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court held that the law does not violate citizens' rights under the state constitution, rejecting a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood.

Biden's tough path in North Carolina worsens after debate

U.S. President Joe Biden's uphill battle to win North Carolina, a state Democrats consider pivotal this election and in which they have heavily invested for months, just got steeper after his shaky showing at Thursday's presidential debate. Biden delivered a defiant speech in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday in a rare campaign rally in front of a cheering crowd. "When you get knocked down, you get back up," he said, acknowledging his poor performance against Republican contender Donald Trump and noting he doesn't speak, walk or debate as well as he used to.

Trump puts murdered women and girls center stage in anti-immigration drive

Minutes before going on stage for the first presidential debate on Thursday, Donald Trump received a phone call from the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was killed in Houston this month, allegedly by two Venezuelan men in the U.S. illegally. The mother, Alexis Nungaray, was returning a voicemail Trump had left earlier in the day when she was at her daughter's funeral, a friend of the family, Victoria Galvan, who witnessed the call, told Reuters. Nungaray's body was found in a creek near her home on June 17, after her attackers allegedly took her under a bridge, tied her up, took her pants off and strangled her, according to police and prosecutors. The suspects - Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26 - had been detained by U.S. border authorities in Texas earlier this year but released pending a court appearance. During the debate, Trump spoke of Nungaray's case and the phone call as he hammered Biden on his immigration policies, accusing the Democrat of allowing murderers and rapists into the country. "There have been many young women murdered by the same people he allows to come across our border," Trump said. "These killers are coming into our country and they are raping and killing women. And it's a terrible thing."

Trump criticized for 'Palestinian' insult in debate with Biden

Human rights advocates on Friday condemned former President Donald Trump's references to Palestinians, and immigrants allegedly taking Black American jobs, during Thursday's debate with President Joe Biden, calling the remarks racist or insulting. Biden and Trump had a brief exchange on the war in Gaza but did not have a substantive discussion on how to end the conflict which has killed 38,000 in the enclave, according to the Gaza health ministry, and caused a massive humanitarian crisis with widespread hunger.

US Supreme Court raises bar for obstruction charge against Trump, Jan. 6 rioters

The U.S. Supreme Court raised the legal bar on Friday for prosecutors pursuing obstruction charges in the federal election subversion case against Donald Trump and defendants involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The justices ruled 6-3 to throw out a lower court's decision that had allowed a charge of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding - congressional certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 victory over Trump that the rioters tried to block - against defendant Joseph Fischer, a former police officer.

How Democrats could replace Biden as presidential candidate before November

After President Joe Biden's shaky performance at the debate with former President Donald Trump on Thursday night, some Democrats openly questioned whether he should be replaced as their candidate for the 2024 election. There is a process for doing so, but it would be messy.

Biden acknowledges age, bad debate performance but vows to beat Trump

President Joe Biden said on Friday he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would consider dropping out of the race after a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats. "I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," an ebullient Biden said at a rally one day after the head-to-head showdown with his Republican rival, which was widely viewed as a defeat for the 81-year-old president.

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