Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. court faults Puerto Rico board appointments, keeps bankruptcy alive

A U.S. Appeals Court ruled on Friday that members of Puerto Rico's federally created oversight board were unconstitutionally appointed but declined to dismiss the bankruptcy cases the board filed for the U.S. commonwealth. The ruling allows the island's 2017 federal court cases seeking to restructure about $120 billion of debt and pension obligations to continue and leaves court-approved restructuring deals in place. Five killed as gunman opens fire at Illinois warehouse

A gunman opened fire in an industrial warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was slain, law enforcement officials said. Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said the gunman, identified as Gary Martin, 45, was an employee at the industrial complex. Trump declares emergency for border wall, House panel launches probe

President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in a bid to fund his promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border without congressional approval, an action Democrats vowed to challenge as a violation of the U.S. Constitution. The Republican president's move to circumvent Congress represented an escalation in his efforts to make good on a 2016 presidential campaign pledge to build a wall to halt the flow into the country of illegal immigrants, who Trump says bring crime and drugs. U.S. to slash payouts from 9/11 victims fund

The special master overseeing a U.S. government fund to compensate victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Friday said future awards will be significantly reduced, typically by at least 50 percent, because the fund is running short of money. Rupa Bhattacharyya, the special master, said the reduction in payouts from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is necessary because the $2.375 billion remaining in the $7.375 billion fund is not enough to compensate the thousands of additional eligible victims and family members. U.S. Supreme Court to decide legality of census citizenship query

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide the fate of a fiercely contested plan by President Donald Trump's administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, agreeing on Friday to an expedited review of a judge's ruling blocking the plan. The justices, in a brief order, granted the administration's request to hear its appeal of Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman's Jan. 15 ruling even before a lower appeals court has considered the matter. Oral arguments will take place in late April, with a ruling due by the end of June. Army calls base housing hazards 'unconscionable,' details steps to protect families

Deeply troubled by military housing conditions exposed by Reuters reporting, the U.S. Army's top leadership vowed on Friday to renegotiate its housing contracts with private real estate firms, test tens of thousands of homes for toxins and hold its own commanders responsible for protecting Army base residents from dangerous homes. In an interview, the Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said Reuters reports and a chorus of concerns from military families had opened his eyes to the need for urgent overhauls of the Army’s privatized housing system, which accommodates more than 86,000 families. Amazon invites Ocasio-Cortez for tour, calls worker claims untrue

A senior Amazon.com Inc executive on Friday disputed claims raised by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Amazon workers face "dehumanizing conditions" as being untrue and invited her to take a tour of company facilities. Ocasio-Cortez, a newly elected progressive Democrat who was an outspoken critic of the plans to locate Amazon's second headquarters in a New York City neighborhood near her congressional district, asked on Twitter if Amazon's culture of "strict performance" is "why Amazon workers have to urinate in bottles & work while on food stamps to meet 'targets?' Performance shouldn’t come at the cost of dehumanizing conditions." Police arrest 'potential suspects' in alleged attack on 'Empire' actor

Two Nigerian brothers have been arrested in connection with an alleged racist and homophobic assault on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago, the city's police department said on Friday. Authorities had previously said only that the pair, whose names have not been released, were persons of interest after they were recognized from surveillance camera footage taken in the area where Smollett said two men shouted slurs at him and put a rope around his neck on Jan. 29. Philadelphia beats U.S. appeal in sanctuary city case

A federal appeals court said on Friday the Trump administration cannot cut off grants to Philadelphia for its refusal to cooperate with immigration authorities seeking to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally. In a 3-0 decision, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said the U.S. attorney general lacked power to condition that city's receipt of $1.6 million for local law enforcement on its compliance with three new requirements. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg back at court after cancer bout

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the court on Friday for the first time after weeks of recuperating from lung cancer surgery and missing oral arguments in January, a court official said on Friday. Ginsburg, a liberal jurist who will turn 86 in March, took part in the private conference among the nine justices on the court to discuss cases. She had previously been working from home and participating and voting in cases since her December surgery by reading argument transcripts and case briefs.