Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
Biden campaign courts wealthy donors in D.C. ahead of 2024 race
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is hosting big-money donors in Washington on Thursday as they plan ramped-up voter outreach for the 2024 race, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The event is expected to be attended by a couple of hundred top donors and comes during a fundraising blitz that recently saw Biden travel to Boston for a trio of fundraisers and California for a three day, star-studded haul.
DeSantis forms new fundraising effort as Iowa showdown looms
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has largely pinned his presidential hopes on a top finish next month in the early voting state of Iowa, on Thursday formed a new national finance effort to help spur donations and try and keep pace with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. The move comes as the most recent poll in Iowa, which holds its first-in-the-nation nominating contest on Jan. 15, showed Trump leading by about 30 percentage points over DeSantis, with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley slightly behind in third place.
N.Y. Republicans pick Pilip to seek George Santos’ former seat in Congress
New York Republicans have picked Ethiopia-born former Israeli paratrooper Mazi Melesa Pilip as their candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by George Santos’ ouster, the Queens County Republican Party said on Thursday. Pilip, a county legislator, will face Democratic former U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi in the Feb. 13 special election, which is expected to be highly competitive and could erode Republicans’ already slim 221-213 House majority.
US magistrate judge tentatively rules Musk must testify again for SEC
A U.S. Magistrate Judge in San Francisco on Thursday tentatively ruled that Elon Musk must testify again in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation of his $44 billion takeover of Twitter. In court on Thursday, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said the SEC’s authorities to compel testimony are broad and no judge is going to “second guess” the SEC’s investigation.
Top US general to join Pentagon chief for meetings in Israel
General Charles Q. Brown, the top U.S. general, will join Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for meetings in Israel in the coming days, the Pentagon said on Thursday. It will be the Air Force general’s first trip to the Middle East since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told a press conference.
Congress passes $886 billion defense policy bill, Biden to sign into law
More than two-thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a defense policy bill on Thursday that includes a record $886 billion in annual military spending and authorizes policies such as aid for Ukraine and push back against China in the Indo-Pacific. The House backed the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, by 310 to 118, with strong support from Republicans and Democrats. It was more than the two-thirds majority required to pass the measure and send it to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law.
Ex-FBI official sentenced to over four years for work for Russia’s Deripaska
A former FBI official was sentenced to over four years in prison on Thursday after previously pleading guilty to working for Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch under U.S. sanctions whom prosecutors have called President Vladimir Putin’s “henchman.” Charles McGonigal, who led the counterintelligence division of the FBI’s New York field office from 2016 through his retirement in 2018, admitted in August to working for Deripaska between spring and autumn of 2021 to find negative information on rival Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin.
Trump loses challenge to gag order in New York civil fraud case
A New York state appeals court on Thursday denied Donald Trump’s bid to overturn a gag order restricting the former U.S. president from publicly talking about court staff in his New York civil fraud trial. The judge overseeing the case, Justice Arthur Engoron, issued the gag order on Oct. 3 after the former U.S. president shared on social media a photo of the judge’s law clerk posing with U.S. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and falsely called her Schumer’s girlfriend.”
US Supreme Court declines to block Illinois assault rifle ban
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday again declined to block a Democratic-backed state ban in Illinois on assault-style rifles and large capacity magazines enacted after a deadly mass shooting in Chicago’s Highland Park suburb in 2022, rejecting a renewed request by a firearms retailer and a national gun rights group. The justices’ action leaves the law in place pending an appeal by the National Association for Gun Rights, Robert Bevis, and his firearms store, Law Weapons & Supply of a lower court’s decision. It denied their bid for a preliminary injunction against the ban, as well as a similar ban enacted by another Chicago suburb, Naperville.
US Senate to vote on Ukraine funding, border security next week
The U.S. Senate will vote on military aid for Ukraine and Israel next week as negotiations continue over changes to U.S. border security policy that would be tied to the funding, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday. The Senate will delay its holiday break, which had been due to start Friday, and convene Monday to give negotiators time to reach an agreement, Schumer said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)