Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US congressional candidate Brad Lander released after being detained by Israeli military in West Bank

Brad Lander, a US Democratic Party candidate for Congress, was detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, along with other Americans and Israelis harvesting olives alongside Palestinian farmers, rights groups said. Lander wrote on X that he had been released with a warning, which he said was apparently due to his public profile, but said several dozen ​rabbis and other participants were still detained.

Ohio State University disputes DOJ finding that medical school discriminates in admissions

Ohio State University said on Wednesday it disagreed with the US Department of Justice's findings that alleged its medical school favored Black and Hispanic applicants in admissions and discriminated against white and Asian applicants. The DOJ said findings from ​a federal probe showed Ohio State College of Medicine discriminated against white and Asian students in granting admission to its 2023, 2024 and 2025 incoming classes.

Trump warns Kansans that US will 'burn' like France if Democrats win

US ‌President Donald Trump on Monday used ​violent unrest in France as an argument against Democrats in his battle to defend a Kansas Senate seat long held by Republicans but in danger of falling to his political opponents. Trump's rally on behalf of Republican incumbent Roger Marshall was his latest foray into conservative states where Republican candidates are on defense due to voter frustrations over the Iran war and rising prices.

New Mexico sues to stop payouts to Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer, accountant

New Mexico has filed a civil lawsuit to block payments from Jeffrey Epstein's estate to the late sex offender's lawyer and accountant, and to recover damages for survivors of his alleged sexual abuse, the state's top law enforcement official said on Wednesday. The suit is the first law enforcement action against Epstein's longtime personal attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, according to New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez.

Trump to rally for Graham in tight South Carolina Senate race amid Russia rift

President Donald Trump travels to South Carolina on Wednesday to bolster Republican Darline Graham in a surprisingly competitive Senate race, even as his recent moves toward Russia have put him at odds with the ‌sister of his late ally Lindsey Graham. Less than two weeks before the November 3 election, Darline Graham is running about even in the polls against Democrat Annie Andrews in a state Republicans typically win handily, another sign of the political headwinds confronting Trump's party amid high gasoline prices and the war in Iran.

Trump administration says it has revoked over 300,000 visas

President Donald Trump's administration has revoked over 300,000 US visas during his second term, the State Department said on Tuesday as the federal government continues its sweeping immigration crackdown. The number showed an acceleration in the pace of visa revocations in recent weeks.

Vance defends Ramaswamy's explosive attack ad in Ohio governor race

US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday defended an explosive attack ad by Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign against his Democratic rival in the Ohio governor’s race. The ad features Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, disputing Acton’s account of a childhood she says involved a period of homelessness and sexual abuse. Arthur, whom Acton says she has not seen since 1978, urges Ohioans not to vote for her daughter.

Trump says fraud investigations make 'very big dent' in overseas scams

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration has made a "very big dent" in scams by foreign criminal networks that lure Americans into fraudulent investments, focusing on an anti-fraud message ahead of November's midterm elections. Trump, members of his cabinet and other top administration officials met at the White House for an event on cybercrime prevention, where FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency had taken down 20 scam compounds throughout the world.

Lawmakers ‌say US briefing showed Russia targeting Democrats with misinformation

The top Democratic lawmakers on the congressional intelligence committees on Wednesday said they received an intelligence briefing that Russia has been waging a misinformation campaign against Democrats running in next month's midterm elections. The comments by Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes come as Republican President Donald Trump has in recent weeks eased economic sanctions on Russia and increased pressure on Ukraine to end its fight against Russian forces.

Supreme Court won't allow Trump administration restrictions on transgender inmates

The US Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday a bid by President Donald Trump's administration to immediately enforce a policy restricting gender-affirming care for transgender inmates in federal prisons in a rare win for transgender rights at ‌the nation's top judicial body. The court denied the Justice Department's emergency request to lift a federal judge's order blocking the Federal Bureau of Prisons from implementing the policy, while a legal challenge to the measure plays out.

Explainer-Three issues defining the 2026 US midterm elections

President Donald Trump’s record-low popularity, voter frustration over the cost of living and a fierce immigration fight are shaping the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine whether Republicans keep control of Congress or Democrats gain the power to challenge his administration. Republicans hold narrow majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control of each chamber.

US single-family housing starts plunge; building permits hit 3-1/2-year low

US single-family homebuilding fell sharply in September and permits for future construction tumbled to a 3-1/2-year low as higher mortgage rates suppressed demand, suggesting residential investment resumed its declining trend in the third quarter. The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday followed on the heels of a National Association of Home Builders survey on Monday showing sentiment among single-family homebuilders plunged in October to the lowest level since June 2012.

Trump's MAGA Inc unleashes $277 million last-ditch effort to save Republicans in key US races

President Donald Trump has unleashed more than $277 million in a last-minute TV and direct mail advertising blitz over the final six weeks of the midterm campaign to help struggling Republican candidates in several races that are key to the party's chances to retain control of the US Congress. Trump's MAGA Inc super PAC, which has spent over $300 million on the midterms so far, poured the most money directly or through other PACs into the Texas, Michigan and Ohio Senate races where the Republican candidates are in tight races and trailing Democratic challengers in most polls, Federal Election Commission data shows.

The races that will decide control of the US Senate

Democrats need to pick up ⁠at least four seats in November's midterm elections ​to win control of the 100-seat US Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. That was seen as unlikely at the beginning of the year, but President Donald Trump's unpopularity and voter frustrations ⁠over the Iran war and rising prices have made many races competitive even in states that he won handily in 2024. Here are the races that will determine control of the Senate:

US aims to loan about a third of heating oil reserve in bid to tame prices

The Trump administration is offering to loan up to nearly a third of the 1-million-barrel US emergency heating oil reserve, the Department of Energy said on Wednesday, in a bid to tame surging prices. The move, reported first by Reuters, came after senators from both political parties urged the administration to release heating oil from the reserve.

How the Republican redistricting gambit faltered under Trump slump

At President Donald Trump's urging, Republicans pursued an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting campaign ahead of November's midterm elections, redrawing dozens of US House of Representatives districts in an effort to preserve their narrow majority. With less than two weeks until Election Day, however, Trump's unpopularity has wiped ⁠out most of those gains, leaving Republicans scrambling to defend even districts they engineered to be safely conservative.

Russia frees retired US schoolteacher in goodwill gesture as Putin meets Witkoff

Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher in custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg to fly back to the United States, after talks that Washington said were a step toward ending the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement at a meeting in St Petersburg with US envoy Steve Witkoff, who later said the talks will continue toward planned technical-level discussions involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.

Republicans fly past former spending caps nixed by US Supreme Court

Since the US Supreme Court in June struck down federal caps on political party spending with input from candidates, Republican committees have surged past the former limits ​by more than $126 million while their Democratic counterparts have topped them by more than $46 million ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans are seeking to retain control of Congress in the midterms. Coordinated spending by Republican and Democratic committees from July through September was nearly eight times what they spent during the same months of the last midterm elections in 2022.

Meta ordered to pay $25 billion penalty to New Mexico in data privacy case

A judge in New Mexico ordered Meta Platforms on Wednesday to pay the state $25 billion after a jury found the company had misled consumers about the privacy of their data, hitting the company with one of ⁠the largest financial penalties in US history. The ruling came in a case stemming from allegations that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm involved in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, obtained data from millions of Facebook users without their consent. New Mexico had sued Meta, accusing it of lying to Facebook users in New Mexico about who had access to their data.

Monitoring the monitors: US states prepare for surge of Justice Dept election watchers

When Justice Department staffers arrived in Minnesota this summer to monitor the state's primary election, they found themselves under scrutiny as well. Minnesota officials deployed about 40 state employees, working in pairs, to track the DOJ lawyers as they traveled through two counties during the August vote. The monitoring effort reflected mounting tensions between Minnesota and the Trump administration over elections and immigration. Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon said his office is likely to continue coordinating with the state attorney general's office to shadow federal monitors during the November 3 midterms, ⁠when control ​of Congress is at stake. California has launched a similar program.

Pennsylvania measles cases rise to 1,317, state health department says

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Wednesday reported 1,317 measles cases in the state, up 31 cases since its previous update on Monday, as the outbreak of the highly contagious disease continued. Pennsylvania has confirmed measles cases in 43 counties, with Washington County added to the list of affected counties.

US busts ring accused of arranging hundreds of sham marriages in Massachusetts

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged six people with participating in a long-running scheme to allegedly arrange hundreds of sham marriages in Massachusetts in order to help immigrants unlawfully obtain green cards and potential US citizenship. US Attorney Leah Foley during a press conference in Boston said the scheme's alleged mastermind, Jennifer Gonzalez, helped organize sham marriages for over a decade in Massachusetts, a Democratic-led state the defendant described as a "sanctuary" jurisdiction where "you get a lot of help as an immigrant."

Trump, in North Carolina, says Republicans will defy midterm odds

With his approval rating at record lows, President Donald Trump attempted to defy political gravity in a pep rally in North Carolina on Tuesday, urging voters to support his favored Senate candidate in a race some Republican groups have already given up on. Trump has embarked on a campaign blitz ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, traveling more than 29,000 miles (46,671 km) since late September to boost Republican candidates. His second stop in North Carolina in as many months was a signal of how much is at stake in ⁠this southern state.

US high court rulings have been 'destructive to democracy,' Justice Kagan says

US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday said the court's conservative majority has undermined democracy and "created a race to the bottom" in how congressional districts are drawn. Kagan, one of the court's three liberals, told students at Catholic University's law school that the conservatives have enabled increased political polarization by not reining in partisan gerrymandering, which involves states redrawing the boundaries of electoral districts based on the partisan leanings of voters to boost a political party's candidates.

Who is Stephen Hubbard, the US citizen released by Russia?

President Vladimir Putin announced the release of American citizen Stephen Hubbard from Russian detention on Wednesday, at the start ⁠of talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Here are details of Hubbard's case:WHO IS STEPHEN HUBBARD?

US Agriculture Dept confirms first detection of New World screwworm in US wildlife

The US Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday ⁠it has confirmed the first detection of flesh-eating parasite New World screwworm in US wildlife in an elk in Pecos County, Texas. The elk was located on a game ranch and was reported after being harvested by a hunter, the USDA said in a statement.

Trump says companies should pay 'dividend' to communities to make data centers popular

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that companies building data centers should pay a "dividend" to the communities where they are sited if they want to make the developments popular. "I have watched the process closely, and data centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

US agents investigate report incendiary device thrown at ICE office in Atlanta

US federal agents are investigating reports that an incendiary device was thrown at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday night. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel and evidence response technicians are on site collecting evidence, the agency's Atlanta public affairs department said in an emailed statement.

Trump asks US Supreme Court to allow Big ‌Bend border wall construction

President Donald Trump's administration asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to let it proceed with a plan to ‌build a US-Mexico border barrier in a remote region in West Texas that includes Big Bend National Park. The Justice Department filed an emergency request for the court to lift a federal judge's order halting wall construction in the region while a lawsuit against the project brought by an environmental group and other challengers plays out.

After generations in Central Park, horse-drawn carriages face a ban

To ​observers, the horse-drawn carriages driven by coachmen in black top hats, ferrying passengers through Central Park and nearby Manhattan streets, can seem like relics from another time. They soon may be.