McCarthy Orders Impeachment Inquiry Into Biden Amid Pressure From Hard-Liners

For ABC News, Rachel Scott, Katherine Faulders, Alexandra Hutzler, Allison Pecorin, and Arthur Jones II report that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has opened a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden to further investigate business dealings by President Biden’s son Hunter. McCarthy’s announcement of a formal impeachment inquiry comes as Congress approaches a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending measure to keep the government open, with some conservative hard-liners in the House threatening to oppose a funding extension. PRRI data from June 2023 finds that just over four in ten Americans (43%) hold favorable views of Biden; among Republicans, that percentage is 7%.

Abortion Rights Group Sues on Behalf of Women Denied Care in Emergencies in 3 States

Frances Stead Sellers for The Washington Post reports that the Center for Reproductive Rights has filed legal actions in Tennessee, Idaho and Oklahoma on behalf of women who say they were denied abortion care in medical emergencies, a continuation of the legal strategy used by the center in an earlier Texas lawsuit. According to KFF, most of the 14 states where abortion is banned have exceptions for medical emergencies, but many doctors have argued that those exceptions are “written in nonmedical language and fail to reflect the health risks to a mother.” PRRI research finds that 60% of Americans oppose laws that do not allow abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.

Five Former Officers Charged With Federal Civil Rights Violations in Tyre Nichols’ Death

For the Associated Press, Adrian Sainz and Jonathan Mattise report that five former Memphis police officers were charged Tuesday with federal civil rights violations in the beating death of Tyre Nichols as they continue to fight second-degree murder charges in state courts arising from the killing. The charges include excessive force and failure to intervene; conspiracy to witness tampering; and obstruction of justice through witness tampering. These charges come nine months after Nichols was violently beaten by five Black officers. Nichols was said to have cried out for his mother and say ‘I’m just trying to go home.’” PRRI finds that 78% of Black Americans agree that white supremacy is still a problem today, while white Americans are more divided (52% agree and 45% disagree).

Why Thousands of U.S. Congregations Are Leaving the United Methodist Church

For CBS News, Sarah Maddox describes the factors leading up to the ongoing disaffiliation of about one-fifth of Methodist congregations from the United Methodist Church, one of the country’s largest Protestant denominations. Despite official rules banning LGBTQ people from ordination and forbidding same-sex marriages, in recent years the church largely hasn’t acted against congregations that allow the consecration of LGBTQ clergy or marry same-sex couples. This, as well as other theological disagreements, is causing more conservative congregations to leave and join the newly formed Global Methodist Church, which stands by rules prohibiting LGBTQ ordination and marriage. PRRI finds that less than one in ten Republican churchgoers (9%) want more LGBTQ church leaders, compared to 23% of independent churchgoers and 39% of Democratic churchgoers.

What’s Buzzing?

Read PRRI’s full report “Trump Remains Popular Among Republican Groups, While Assessments of DeSantis Slip” here.