Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Under Trump, deficits remain high while borrowing costs escalate

US government debt hit a milestone $40 trillion in August, triggering a potentially uncomfortable debate for President Donald Trump and Republicans contesting tight midterm elections next month: whether the world's No. 1 economy is also becoming a riskier credit in financial markets. So far, ​the answer seems to be no.

US Supreme Court to review 1868 federal ban on home distilling of liquor

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide the legality of a federal ban on the home distilling of alcoholic spirits ​that was enacted in 1868 after the US Civil War to crack down on liquor tax evasion. The dispute pits Republican President Donald Trump's administration, which is ‌defending the law, against challengers ​who argue that the home-distilling prohibition exceeds the authority of Congress under the US Constitution. More than a dozen Republican-led states have backed the legal challenge to the statute.

US Supreme Court snubs bid to revive plea deal for accused 9/11 mastermind

The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, to revive a 2024 agreement that would have spared him the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea — a deal scrapped by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The justices turned away appeals by Mohammed and two co-defendants who had also signed plea agreements of a lower court's ruling that upheld Austin's decision to void the deals. The US Court of Appeals for the District of ‌Columbia Circuit rejected an argument that Austin, who served under former President Joe Biden, had acted too late.

The midterm election outcomes that could shape Trump's final two years

Americans vote on November 3 in midterm elections that will determine who controls Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both the US House of Representatives and US Senate to overturn Republicans' narrow 218-214 and 53-47 majorities.

US Supreme Court to hear Maryland case involving race in school admissions

The US Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider reviving a lawsuit against a Maryland county's lottery admissions policy for four elite public middle schools that some parents claim unlawfully discriminates against Asian American applicants. Delving again into the contentious issue of race in student admissions, the justices took up an appeal by a coalition of parents of a lower court's decision rejecting their claim that Montgomery County's policy violates the US Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.

A city divided: What redistricting means for Tennessee voters

The city of Memphis used to sit ‌almost entirely in one congressional district. The new map splits residents from neighbors across the street, each now belonging to districts with voters halfway across the state who have different needs and interests. Four years before the Memphis redistricting, Republicans used a similar strategy in drawing new maps for Nashville.

US Supreme Court will not review Trump's firing of labor board member

The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by a Democratic-appointed member of the National Labor Relations Board to challenge the legality ‌of her firing by President Donald Trump. The justices turned away former NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox's appeal of a lower court's ruling that said the Republican president's January 2025 firing of her was a valid exercise of executive authority.

Driver released after pickup truck kills 2, injures 10 at Kansas youth soccer game

The woman who was driving a pickup truck that entered a Kansas soccer field during a youth match, killing a man and 6-year-old boy, was released without charges while the investigation continues, authorities said on Sunday. Investigators interviewed the 34-year-old woman, whom authorities have not publicly identified, and consulted with the Sedgwick County district attorney's office before releasing her, the Wichita Police Department said in a statement.

Trump says Washington golf course project to start immediately, despite judge's order

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration would begin renovation work immediately on a historic Washington golf course that a federal judge had ordered could not proceed without prior court notification. The renovation work, which Trump a day earlier said would start next month, has become the subject of a lawsuit over environmental and historic preservation concerns.

Trump geothermal lease sale collides with planned Nevada solar farms

The US Interior Department's sale of geothermal leases in Nevada this week will include thousands of acres overlapping major planned solar projects from NextEra Energy ⁠and other developers, according to federal ​documents. On Tuesday, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management is scheduled to auction 83 parcels totaling 265,691 acres to geothermal developers. NextEra, the world's largest ⁠owner of solar and wind generation, asked the agency earlier this year to "remove, defer or reconfigure" three proposed geothermal parcels.

University of North Carolina settles federal probes by Trump administration

President Donald Trump's administration has reached a settlement deal with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to close 18 federal probes over alleged race discrimination and antisemitism at the university. Trump has targeted universities with probes and funding-suspension threats over pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel's assault on Gaza, diversity initiatives, transgender policies and climate programs, leading to free speech, due process and academic freedom concerns.

Roy Cooper's North Carolina playbook is working. Can other Democrats copy it?

North Carolina hasn’t ⁠elected a Democrat to the US Senate in nearly 20 years, but former Governor Roy Cooper has built a double-digit lead over Republican Michael Whatley by relentlessly focusing on affordability and a blunt promise to “make stuff cost less.” At campaign stops, Cooper, 69, points to his six-year fight to expand Medicaid through a Republican-controlled legislature as evidence he can work across party lines, while attacking Trump-backed healthcare cuts that he says are hitting North Carolinians hard.

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil asks US Supreme Court to hear case seeking to avoid re-arrest

Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil on Monday asked the US Supreme ​Court to overturn a ruling that opened the door for President Donald Trump's administration to re-arrest and deport the Palestinian activist. Khalil's lawyers asked the justices to take up his case after the Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal immigration law barred a lower-court judge from ordering his release from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Rubio says Trump to take up to 60 days to weigh Russia sanctions

The day after waiving sanctions and tariffs ⁠related to Russian exports, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has yet to announce a final decision on the matter, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said officials want more time to evaluate the situation. Rubio said on Saturday that the president will use up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of Russia-related sanctions and tariffs that he waived a day earlier.

Trump signs order creating NIH division, task force for women's health

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order alongside first lady Melania Trump on Monday creating a White House task force and a National Institutes of Health division focused on women's health. The task force will be led by White House ⁠chief ​of staff Susie Wiles, who recently announced that she is cancer-free, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump said at a White House event.

US CFTC secures order for ex-New York resident to pay $288 million

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Monday it secured court orders requiring a former New York resident and his firm to pay more than $288 million for operating a commodity pool Ponzi scheme.

Exclusive-Trump approval falls to record low of 31% as midterms near, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

President Donald Trump's approval rating fell to a record low as Americans worried about high gasoline prices and appeared ready to punish his Republican Party in the November 3 congressional elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday. Some 31% of Americans approve of Trump's performance in office, down a percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in either of his presidential terms, the four-day poll showed.

Senator Schumer urges FCC to reject conservative group's bid to use political AI-generated robocalls

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Monday urged the Federal Communications Commission ⁠not to approve a petition to allow political AI-generated robocalls from conservative political group Club for Growth ahead of the November congressional elections. "Under this change, campaigns could use their opponents’ voice to send out a message that is, at best, disingenuous and, at worst, a blatant lie," Schumer said.

Gymnastics-Nassar judge says gymnastics still failing athletes despite reforms

Gymnastics is still failing athletes in "almost every way" despite reforms introduced in the decade since the Larry Nassar abuse scandal, the judge who sentenced the former ⁠USA Gymnastics doctor has told Reuters. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said changes made by governing bodies around the world amounted largely to "window dressing" and that athletes remained fearful that ⁠speaking out could cost them their place in the sport.

Rubio seeks to expand Central Asia ties with pomp-filled Uzbekistan visit

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with counterparts from five Central Asian nations in Uzbekistan on Monday, a trip that resulted in relatively minor public deliverables, but which US officials have presented as an opportunity to expand American soft power. Rubio, who arrived in the historic Silk Road city of Samarkand on Sunday night, met in the morning with the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. In the evening, he dined with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and participated in a US-Uzbekistan business council event.

Ex-OpenAI employee accused of planting device appears to have Saudi backing, US prosecutors say

An ex-OpenAI engineer accused of planting a recording device in an ‌executive conference room at the AI company appears to have received considerable support from the ‌Saudi government, US prosecutors said in a court filing. Federal prosecutors allege that the defendant, Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was in frequent communication with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family and that a Saudi military official paid for a one-way plane ticket for Alfozan's wife ​and young son to return to Saudi Arabia after his arrest, according to the court document, made public late on Sunday.