Reuters US Domestic News Summary
Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
U.S. drugmakers file lawsuit against requiring drug prices in TV ads
U.S. drugmakers filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging a new government regulation that would require them to disclose the list price of prescription drugs in direct-to-consumer television advertisements. The lawsuit was jointly filed by Amgen Inc, Merck & Co, Eli Lilly and Co and the Association Of National Advertisers in the U.S. district court for the district of Columbia.
Trump says will not fire White House adviser Conway
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he would not fire White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, despite the conclusion by a U.S. government watchdog that she repeatedly violated U.S. law by making political statements in her official White House post. Trump, in an interview with Fox News, defended Conway, saying it was a free speech issue.
Fugitive ex-priest to face Arizona child sex charges
A fugitive former Catholic priest who fled to Italy and vanished after being indicted on child sex charges in Arizona in 2003 has been found and returned to Arizona, authorities said on Friday. Joseph Henn, 70, was arrested in Rome by Italian police late last month and brought back to Phoenix by U.S. marshals to face charges of child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor, Arizona prosecutors said.
Four candidates at top of Trump's list to replace Sarah Sanders: source
U.S. President Donald Trump has four leading candidates under consideration to replace outgoing White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, a Trump confidant said on Friday. The four are deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley, Stephanie Grisham, who is first lady Melania Trump's communications director, former State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert and outgoing Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Democratic contenders Biden, Sanders to face off in Miami debates
U.S. Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden will appear on the same stage with Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg and six other rivals during the second of two nights of candidate debates scheduled for later this month in Miami. The first debate on June 26 will include candidates Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O'Rourke among the 10 participants, NBC announced on Friday. The network is hosting that debate and a second one the following night.
Trump presses Lockheed to keep open a Pennsylvania plant slated for closure
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday urged Lockheed Martin Corp to keep open its Sikorsky helicopter plant in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a week after the weapons maker announced the planned closure of the facility. The F-35 fighter jets maker had announced plans to close the plant, which does "completion work" for Sikorsky's S-92 and S-76D helicopters, citing a multi-year slump in the rotorcraft industry, possibly due to the protracted downturn in oil prices. The plant employs about 465 employees.
Hundreds gather for vigil in Memphis neighborhood where man was shot
Some 300 people gathered on Friday evening for a candle-light vigil in the Memphis neighborhood where a young black man was shot dead by federal authorities as residents remained on edge following violent demonstrations earlier this week. Brandon Webber, a 20-year-old father of two, was shot and killed on Wednesday by U.S. Marshals seeking to arrest him on a warrant for aggravated assault and other charges, touching off clashes between police and protesters on the streets of Memphis that left 36 officers injured..
Democratic 2020 candidates court South Carolina's black voters
Four of the two dozen Democrats vying for the party's 2020 U.S. presidential nomination will appear at a Black Economic Alliance forum in Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday, with an eye on the key role black voters will play in the early-voting state. South Carolina, which will host the fourth nominating contest next year, will be the first state where a significant proportion of the Democratic electorate - about 60 percent - is black.
U.S. court rules against Trump administration in immigrant teen abortion case
A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that the U.S. government cannot deny access to abortions for unaccompanied immigrant minors in federal custody, delivering a blow to a Trump administration policy. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a lower court decision that found the government cannot unduly burden the ability of a woman to obtain an abortion under established Supreme Court precedent.
U.S. court lets Trump transgender military ban stand, orders new review
A U.S. appeals court handed President Donald Trump a victory in his effort to ban most transgender people from the military, ordering a judge to reconsider her ruling against the policy, which the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to take effect. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday set aside a ruling by U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle, which had said the ban likely violated the constitutional rights of transgender service members and recruits.
