Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Catholic diocese sues US government seeking clergy access to detainees

The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday, alleging that detainees at an immigration detention facility in Missouri are being deprived of their right to speak privately with priests or receive sacraments like communion and confession. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against top officials at ​the Department of Homeland Security and the local sheriff, alleges clergy can only visit detainees at the Saint Genevieve County Jail during a four-hour window on Mondays, and can only speak to them via telephone handset through a glass partition.

Conservation group calls for moratorium on AI data centers on US public ​lands

Conservation group The Wilderness Society on Monday called for a moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers on federal lands, citing concerns over water use, electricity demand, wildlife habitat and public access. The call comes ‌as the Trump administration is considering ​permits for several data center developments on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, according to federal land records. US President Donald Trump has sought to expand a range of industries on public lands, including mining and oil and gas

Nolan Wells' family seeks federal probe after grand jury declined to indict anyone for his death

The family of an 18-year-old Black man whose body was found on a Mississippi barrier island following a Fourth of July trip with friends called on Monday for a federal investigation into his death after a grand jury declined to indict anyone. Here are some details:

Pennsylvania measles cases rise to 1,004 as outbreak spreads

Pennsylvania's health department reported 1,004 measles cases as of Monday, as the state grapples with a fast-growing outbreak. Five Pennsylvania residents have died after contracting the highly contagious disease, as cases in the US reach their highest level in more than three decades.

Trump says taxpayers will no longer pay for TV ads that praised him

President Donald Trump on Monday said taxpayers will ‌no longer pay for television ads featuring him shortly before the November congressional elections after widespread criticism of the campaign-style spots. Ethics experts and lawmakers from both parties have criticized the three nationally broadcast ads, which celebrate a "golden age of America," and called for independent investigations.

Exclusive-Accenture contractor removed from FBI following damaging data breach, sources say

The Federal Bureau of Investigation removed an Accenture contractor on Monday over their role in a damaging data breach that exposed sensitive personal details of thousands of bureau employees, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The development comes as the FBI is still trying to ascertain the ramifications of the breach, which some former bureau officials have described as a major blow to the organization's operational security.

US Army tests counter-drone tech at Mexican border as cartel drone use rises

The US Army is testing counter-drone technology in the US-Mexico border area, seeking to sharpen its defenses against the growing threat of drone use by cartels and emulate the rapid battlefield innovation happening in Ukraine's war with Russia. At Falcon Peak, a US Northern Command exercise held in September in Arizona, soldiers watched as defense firms demonstrated radars, interceptor drones, autonomous gun systems and other technologies designed to detect, track and destroy small unmanned aircraft.

Trump urges supporters to vote by mail despite fraud claims

President Donald Trump encouraged supporters on Saturday and again on Monday to vote by mail if they wanted, a change of tone for the US president, ‌who has for years described mail-in voting as a practice rife with fraud. Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for a rally in Nebraska on Monday afternoon, Trump said his supporters could vote by mail in the coming congressional midterm elections on November 3, even as he said he preferred in-person voting.

Ohio early voting begins with US Congress control on the line

Early voting begins on Tuesday in Ohio, where the winners of November's midterm elections will help determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the US Congress for the next two years, given the state has one Senate seat and two House seats seen as "Toss Ups" by Cook ‌Political Report. When polls open across the Midwestern state early on Tuesday, voters will be casting ballots at a time when discontent throughout the United States runs deep, especially over rising prices.

US televangelist Jim Bakker, ensnared in fraud and sex scandal, dead at 86

U.S. televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar empire and lived in opulence before being disgraced by a sex scandal, fraud conviction for bilking followers and divorce from television co-host Tammy Faye, died on Monday at age 86. The death of Bakker, whose journey from the TV pulpit to a prison cell in the 1980s inspired comparisons to the corrupt character of the fictional preacher-huckster Elmer Gantry, was revealed on social media by his second wife, Lori Bakker.

US services sector cools in September, price pressures building

US services sector activity slowed in September, while strong domestic demand stretched supply chains and pushed a measure of prices paid by businesses for inputs to its highest level in more than four years, suggesting inflation could remain elevated into 2027. Complaints about higher fuel prices dominated responses to the Institute for Supply Management survey published on Monday.

Trump says US will help Russia after Siberia plague institute death

US President Donald Trump on Monday at the White House told reporters that the United States will help Russia after a laboratory worker died at a plague research institute in Siberia. Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Nebraska that the outbreak is a "big problem for Russia."

Cornell students stage anti-rape rally in support of 'Jane Doe'

Cornell University students staged a mass rally on Monday voicing solidarity with a classmate whose gang-rape allegations have ignited a national uproar and demanding that the Ivy League school take firmer action against sexual violence on campus. The protesters called ⁠for an external inquiry into how ​Cornell's administration has handled the matter, independent hearings and uniform minimum sanctions for all sexual assaults on campus, and better training for campus police in responding to complaints of sexual violence and harassment.

Trump ⁠urges supporters to vote by mail despite fraud claims

President Donald Trump encouraged supporters on Saturday and again on Monday to vote by mail if they wanted, a change of tone for the US president, who has for years described mail-in voting as a practice rife with fraud. Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for a rally in Nebraska on Monday afternoon, Trump said his supporters could vote by mail in the coming congressional midterm elections on November 3, even as he said he preferred in-person voting.

Trump orders firing squad for gunman who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas

President Donald Trump has ordered the use of a firing squad to execute the former US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in a 2009 shooting spree the gunman later described as retaliation for ⁠US wars in the Muslim world, the Pentagon said on Monday. Putting former US Army Major Nidal Hasan to death by Army firing squad was approved by Trump at the recommendation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X.

US appeals court weighs Trump's block on Harvard research funding

US President Donald Trump's administration asked an appeals court on Monday to let it terminate more than $2 billion in grants awarded to Harvard University, a major target in the Republican president’s broader campaign against elite US universities. During an oral argument before the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik said the federal government had the authority to withhold federal funding from Harvard to ensure it was adequately combating antisemitism on its campus.

Trump's deportation push forces dozens ​of LGBT migrants onto hostile terrain

Two years ago, a mob assaulted Abdou Latifou and threatened to kill him after he was seen kissing the man he loved. He fled his home in the West African nation of Togo and sought refuge in the United States, according to his asylum application.

Trump approval at record low; Hispanic voters sour on Republicans, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

President Donald Trump's approval rating held at a record low in recent days, as many Hispanic voters panned his job performance and planned to spurn his Republican Party in next month's midterm elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday. The six-day poll ⁠showed 32% of Americans giving a thumbs up to Trump's presidency, unchanged from a September Reuters/Ipsos survey that saw the leader's rating at the lowest of his political career.

Exclusive-US to announce $150 million for Alaska power lines as Vance campaigns in Senate battleground

The US Energy Department will announce $150 million in new funding for power lines in Alaska on Monday as Vice President JD Vance visits the state, where Republicans are fighting to hold a critical Senate seat in the November midterm elections. Vance is set to rally voters for Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, who is locked in a tight reelection battle with Democrat Mary Peltola. Flipping the seat is key to the Democratic Party's strategy to take control of the US Senate, and recent polls have Peltola, a former member of the US House of Representatives, leading Sullivan.

Most Americans support switch to Medicare for all health insurance

Most Americans now favor ⁠government-paid health ​insurance for all, according to a new poll, as voters across party lines see major healthcare reforms as a priority less than a month before midterm elections to decide control of the US Congress. Two-thirds of US adults — up from 53% in 2020 — said they are in favor of universal US health insurance often referred to as "Medicare for all," according to a poll conducted by health policy research firm KFF released on Tuesday.

Trump expands access to tax-exempt diesel fuel

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to expand access to tax-exempt diesel that he unveiled from a rally stage in Nebraska. High diesel prices, which shot to a record of about $6.50 a gallon last month, are a risk to Trump ahead of the November 3 midterm US elections in which control of Congress is at stake. Trump's Republican Party currently holds a narrow majority in the Senate and House of Representatives.

US Supreme Court wrestles with oil companies' bid to scuttle climate lawsuit

US Supreme Court justices wrestled with complex questions over whether to let local governments try to hold oil companies liable for the harms caused by climate change, as they opened their new nine-month term on Monday. The justices heard arguments in an appeal filed by US-based ExxonMobil and Canada-based Suncor Energy after Colorado's top court allowed a lawsuit by officials in Boulder, Colorado, accusing the companies of violating state law ⁠and seeking unspecified monetary damages.

As Iran war drives up gasoline prices in US, Trump blames Ukraine, Democrats

U.S. President Donald Trump, under pressure from rising energy prices fueled by the war in Iran, on Monday tried to shift the blame for high gasoline prices to the Democrats and Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries. "What's driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis, but the word, "Refineries," where Russia's are being blown up by Ukraine, and where ours are being closed up, in Blue States, like California, by the Dumocrats," Trump said in a Truth ⁠Social post.

Trump says taxpayers will no longer pay for TV ads that praised him

President Donald Trump on Monday said taxpayers will no longer pay for television ads featuring him shortly before the November congressional elections ⁠after widespread criticism of the campaign-style spots. Ethics experts and lawmakers from both parties have criticized the three nationally broadcast ads, which celebrate a "golden age of America," and called for independent investigations.

California officials blast Trump's comment to let Iran 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego

President Donald Trump suggested to a crowd of his supporters in Nebraska that Iran could "take out" a major US city like Los Angeles or San Diego, drawing a swift rebuke from California's Democratic leaders and some fellow Republicans. Trump, speaking at a political rally in the state's farm belt on Monday, discussed American wartime economic sacrifices and he said he was determined to "see a tremendous victory, because it verifies all the things we did."

Dennis Hastert, former US House speaker and admitted child molester, dies at 84

Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican US House of Representatives speaker who later admitted to sexually abusing boys as a high school wrestling coach and pleaded guilty to charges arising from the scandal, has died, CBS News reported on Monday, citing a coroner ‌in Illinois. He was 84. Hastert, sentenced in April 2016 to 15 months in prison for bank fraud for trying to cover ‌up payments to keep his molestation secret, died at his home over the weekend due to natural causes, Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell told CBS News.

New York declares first US measles disaster emergency since 2025 surge

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency on Monday over a measles outbreak, the first such declaration by a ​U.S. state since cases began surging in 2025. The state also expanded the pool of health professionals allowed to administer measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines as cases rise in rural communities.