Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Judge bars building of Texas-Mexico border barrier in Big Bend National Park

A federal judge on Friday barred the Trump administration from building a US-Mexico border barrier through Big Bend National Park in Texas while courts consider an environmental lawsuit challenging the project. The ruling came nearly seven weeks after US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney ​Scott paused construction amid bipartisan criticism of the border project and its potential impact on the park's landscape and wildlife.

Exclusive-ShinyHunters hacker in FBI data theft detained in Jordan, cooperating with bureau, sources say

A suspected member of the ShinyHunters hacking group, which says ​it stole data on every FBI employee, was detained in Jordan this week and is cooperating with the FBI, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Saif al-Din ‌Khader was detained by Jordanian ​authorities, the three sources said. Two of them said he was brought into custody on Tuesday. Reuters could not immediately determine the circumstances of Khader’s detention or where he is being held. Two sources said that he is helping the FBI and global law enforcement locate the other hackers in the group.

US appeals court blocks Minnesota law barring 'nudified' photos in XAI lawsuit

Elon Musk's xAI on Friday persuaded a US federal appeals court to halt Minnesota's first-in-the-nation ban on AI-generated fake nude images as the technology and social media company pursues a lawsuit alleging that the law is unconstitutional. The St. Louis-based 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals in its order put the law on hold for now, granting a request for an injunction by xAI. A lower court judge last month had rejected Musk's bid for an order stopping the law.

Exclusive-Trump ‌visa policies weigh on Columbia journalism program as admissions pause

The Trump administration's changing visa policies caused a sharp drop in international applications to Columbia University and contributed to the university pausing admissions to one of its journalism programs, four people familiar with the matter said. The journalism school announced on Thursday it was pausing admissions to its Master of Arts offering to conduct a "critical evaluation," without giving further details about the reasons.

New term gives US Supreme Court's Thomas and Alito more chances to wield power

The new US Supreme Court term that begins on Monday presents opportunities for its two eldest and most conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, to help push US law further rightward on contentious issues such as gun rights, religion in public schools and voting restrictions. Thomas, 78, has served on the top US judicial body since 1991, making him the second-longest-serving justice in American history. Alito, 76, has served since 2006.

Kennedy Center Honors to be held at Capital One Arena amid demolition fight

This year's Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Washington's Capital One Arena as the Trump administration faces legal and congressional challenges over plans to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the ‌Performing Arts, a center spokesperson said on Friday. This will be the first time the honors are not held at the center's Opera House since the awards' inception in 1978.

Christa Pike getting 'life-saving medical care' after surviving Tennessee execution

Christa Pike was critically ill and receiving "life-saving medical care" in a Nashville hospital on Thursday hours after she survived two attempts by Tennessee to execute her with lethal injections, her lawyers said, renewing scrutiny of capital punishment in the US. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in the 1990s after being convicted of a murder ‌she carried out as a teenager. Her botched execution on Wednesday at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, the second this year in Tennessee, highlights the difficulties US states face in carrying out lethal injections and finding suitable alternative methods of capital punishment.

Former US congressman sentenced to 10 years for secretly lobbying for Venezuela

Former US Congressman David Rivera was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for illegally lobbying US officials to ease pressure on ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government. Rivera, a Republican who represented southern Florida in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, was convicted at trial in May of lobbying US officials on Venezuela's behalf in 2017 without registering as a foreign lobbyist as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

With a mixed scorecard, Trump poised to test his powers again at US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court begins its new nine-month term on Monday much as it ended its last one, confronted with more cases involving President Donald Trump's far-reaching policies and aggressive uses of power that will keep testing how far the justices will let him expand his authority. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, wrapped up its last term in June, one dominated by legal battles centered on Trump's exertion of presidential powers. The justices gave the Republican president several major wins and a few big losses.

Democratic surge predicted to hit Republican states hardest, scrambling Senate strategy

Kentucky Democrats ⁠say they have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ​flip a US Senate seat in a Republican stronghold. But a couple of things are missing: their governor and money. Kentucky is one of several ⁠states that President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024 where Republicans are significantly trailing the president's performance, an indication that Democrats have expanded their pathway to a majority in November's midterm elections. It's not clear, however, that the party will invest its limited resources into flipping seats once considered to be out of reach.

Tennessee prison chief resigns after failed execution

The head of the Tennessee Department of Correction will step down this month, state officials said on Saturday, days after convicted murderer Christa Pike was left gravely ill from the state's failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection. The botched execution on Wednesday left Pike unconscious, intubated and hooked to a mechanical ventilator to breathe, ⁠her lawyers wrote in a Friday court filing. It is the state's second failed execution attempt this year, prompting Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to halt attempts to carry out the death penalty for the rest of 2026.

NY governor attacks law enforcement's handling of 2024 Cornell rape investigation

New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday faulted police and prosecutors for failing to fully investigate an alleged gang rape in 2024 at Cornell University, saying she was "deeply disturbed" by how the incident was handled. Hochul was speaking at a press conference alongside state Attorney General Letitia James, whom she appointed on Thursday night as a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations.

Fed ​may skip October but pull rate hike trigger in December

Federal Reserve policymakers were already leaning against delivering a second straight rate hike this month to give them time to sift through more economic data before pulling the trigger again, and a cooler than expected job market report Friday leaves that approach intact. Still-to-come data, particularly the closely-watched consumer price index measure of inflation coming just before the Fed's October 27-28 policy meeting, could yet shift that calculus.

At Cornell, rape allegations spark outrage, soul-searching over campus ⁠culture

Cornell University student Sophia Riley Sim skipped classes this week, consumed by allegations in a lawsuit that several members of a fraternity raped a young woman in 2024 and troubled by how her university handled the case. "Cornell has failed our community through its lack of accountability, transparency, and failure to address the state of the Cornell student body at this time," Sim, a junior, said at a public hearing on sexual assault organized by Cornell's Student Assembly on Thursday.

Tennessee execution survivor Christa Pike unconscious on ventilator, lawyers say

Convicted killer Christa Pike was left gravely ill, unconscious and hospitalized on life support after Tennessee's failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection, her lawyers said on Friday, providing the first detailed account of ⁠the injuries she ​suffered. Hospital staff were working to save Pike's life and clear the drug pentobarbital from her system, her attorneys said in an emergency motion, which seeks a court order for Tennessee's Department of Correction to preserve evidence from Wednesday night's botched execution.

Aboard the USS George Washington, young sailors adjust to war with Iran

An emergency alert blares from a loudspeaker, and Damon Dennard and other sailors on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington are scrambling. Dennard, 23, is readying bombs for loading onto aircraft as his crewmates race to their positions. "It has been eventful," says Dennard, an aviation ordnanceman airman apprentice. Once the alert ends, he takes a breath, sits on one of the bombs and jokes that he probably expected an easier deployment.

Trump says he did not 'jump the gun' on South Korea Alaska LNG investment announcement

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he did not "jump the gun" on announcing a South Korean investment in Alaska LNG, a liquefied natural gas project that has been planned for decades but still lacks binding commitments. Trump unveiled plans on Wednesday for South Korea to invest $200 billion in US projects, but Seoul quickly suggested ⁠one key element, a $54 billion pipeline for a long-planned LNG project in Alaska, was not yet set in stone.

The Fed's building renovations and Trump's push to oust Powell

President Donald Trump began publicly attacking Jerome Powell -- and privately musing about firing him -- just months after Trump elevated Powell in 2018 to the top job at the US central bank. Trump was unhappy that Powell did not deliver the interest-rate cuts the president felt were called for. But it wasn't until 2025, soon after Trump began his second term in the White ⁠House, that the president and key members of his administration zeroed in on cost overruns for renovations of the Fed's Washington headquarters as a focal point ⁠for efforts to oust Powell, or at least to pressure him into easier monetary policy.

Bipartisan members of Congress move to block demolition of Kennedy Center

When President Donald Trump took a wrecking ball to the East Wing of the White House, it took Washington by surprise. Now, there is a move in the US Congress to avoid a second such surprise with legislation to prohibit him from demolishing the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The maneuver comes on the heels of a federal judge ordering the Trump administration to provide at least 30 days' notice before taking steps to demolish the building. Trump himself had told reporters in mid-September that unless his name was on the Kennedy Center, "It's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down."

Pennsylvania measles cases near 1,000 as outbreak spreads

Pennsylvania's health department reported ‌977 measles cases as of Friday, according to its website, as the state continues to battle a ‌fast-growing outbreak of the disease. Here are more details:

US Coast Guard searches for medical aircraft carrying six from Bermuda to Boston

A medical transfer aircraft carrying six people was reported missing on a flight from Bermuda to Boston, the US Coast Guard said on Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration told the Coast ​Guard early on Saturday that it had lost contact with the plane, a Gulfstream jet, a Coast Guard spokesperson said by email.