Biden's Battle: Polls, Debates, and Successors - A Comprehensive Analysis

U.S. President Joe Biden has confirmed his commitment to continue his 2024 presidential campaign despite pressures. Polls show a close race with Donald Trump. The Supreme Court's conservative majority granted Trump significant criminal immunity. Other topics include a bird flu case, a blocked healthcare rule, and Fourth of July travel trends.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

'I am running' - Biden scrambles as pressure grows to abandon his campaign

U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race during a call with campaign staff on Wednesday and sought to reassure top Democrats on Capitol Hill that he is fit for reelection despite his shaky debate performance last week. Biden dialed in to a call with worried members of his campaign team and told them he wasn't going anywhere, according to two sources familiar with the call.

Biden pulls even with Trump, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

U.S. President Joe Biden pulled even with his Republican challenger Donald Trump this week in the race to win the November election, a sign the contest remains close even after a widely panned debate performance by the Democrat, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Biden and Trump each had 40% support among registered voters in the two-day poll that concluded on Tuesday. A prior Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted June 11-12 showed Trump with a marginal 2 percentage point lead, 41% to 39%.

Trump leads Biden in new polls by New York Times, Wall Street Journal

Donald Trump has established a sizable lead over President Joe Biden in the White House race since the two candidates debated last week, according to separate opinion polls published on Wednesday by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Biden vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race during a call with campaign staff on Wednesday and sought to reassure top Democrats on Capitol Hill that he is fit for reelection, despite his halting, shaky debate performance last week.

US Supreme Court's divisions deepened in term capped by Trump immunity ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court's divisions deepened over its nine-month term that culminated this week with a ruling powered by its 6-3 conservative majority granting former President Donald Trump substantial criminal immunity for actions taken in office. A term during which the court constrained the U.S. government's ability to regulate industry - following recent terms when it rolled back abortion rights, expanded gun rights and rejected race-conscious collegiate admissions - laid bare ideological fractures that mirror a profoundly divided nation.

US judge partially blocks FTC ban on worker noncompete agreements

A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday partially blocked a U.S. Federal Trade Commission rule from taking effect that would ban agreements commonly signed by workers not to join their employers' rivals or launch competing businesses. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas said in a written decision the FTC, which enforces federal antitrust laws, lacked the power to adopt broad rules prohibiting practices that it deems unfair methods of competition.

Colorado reports human case of bird flu

Public health officials in Colorado on Wednesday announced an adult man had tested positive for avian flu after reporting mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis, or pink eye. The man is an employee at a dairy farm who had exposure to infected cattle and recovered after antiviral treatment, officials said.

VP Harris top choice to replace Biden in election race if he steps aside, sources say

Vice President Kamala Harris is the top alternative to replace U.S. President Joe Biden if he decides not to continue his reelection campaign, according to seven senior sources at the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee with knowledge of current discussions on the topic. Biden's fumbling, sometimes-incoherent and widely-panned first-debate performance against Republican rival Donald Trump last week set off a wave of panic within the Democratic party over concerns that he may not be fit enough to serve a second term, and prompted calls for top aides to resign.

US judge blocks Biden rule adding gender identity protections to healthcare

A U.S. judge on Wednesday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a new rule against discrimination on the basis of gender identity in healthcare while he hears a lawsuit challenging it by 15 Republican-led states. The rule was finalized in May by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and was set to take effect on Friday. It states that a federal prohibition on sex discrimination, part of the Affordable Care Act health insurance law, extends to discrimination against transgender people.

Fourth of July scorcher set for a quarter of the United States

A huge swath of the United States will experience dangerously high temperatures on Wednesday - just ahead of the long Fourth of July weekend - meteorologists said, while a fast-moving California wildfire has forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes. Some 110 million people in 21 states across the West, the southern Plains and the Mid-Atlantic will spend their holiday under heat-related advisories and warnings. Temperatures were expected to soar well past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) over the next several days, the National Weather Service said.

Americans look past fuel cost, bad weather to set July Fourth travel record

High fuel costs and the threat of a hurricane are not expected to dampen Americans' desire to hit the road this summer, with vacationers preparing for record travel to kick off Fourth of July holiday festivities. Motorist group AAA expects a record of almost 71 million people to travel around the U.S. Independence Day holiday, growth similar to a pre-pandemic trajectory.

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