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.

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 campaigns in South Carolina to support Senate candidate Graham

President Donald Trump campaigned in South Carolina on Wednesday to support Republican Senator Darline Graham, who is in a surprisingly competitive Senate race for the seat once held by her late brother, 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.

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.

As Trump's support slips, white evangelicals remain his Republican bedrock

President Donald Trump is losing ground among many of the voters who returned him to the White House in 2024. But Reuters/Ipsos polling and interviews with white evangelical Christians show they remain his most reliable constituency and could prove crucial in the November 3 midterm elections. With Republicans on the defensive amid record-low approval ratings for Trump, strong evangelical turnout could help the party limit losses driven by voter frustration over the cost of living and the war in Iran.

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.

Meta has strong chance of getting $25 billion New Mexico penalty slashed on appeal, experts say

Meta Platforms has ‌a strong basis for arguing that the $25 billion penalty New Mexico secured this week in a case stemming from allegations the firm mishandled user data should be reduced on appeal, legal experts said. The judgment was one of the largest state verdicts against a company in US history. It came after a jury found Meta misled consumers about who had access to their data in the wake of revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm involved in President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, had harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users.

As Trump's support slips, white evangelicals remain his Republican bedrock

President Donald Trump is losing ground among many of the voters who returned him to the White House in 2024. But Reuters/Ipsos polling and interviews with ‌white evangelical Christians show they remain his most reliable constituency and could prove crucial in the November 3 midterm elections. With Republicans on the defensive amid record-low approval ratings for Trump, strong evangelical turnout could help the party limit losses driven by voter frustration over the cost of living and the war in Iran.

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.

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.

Trump's tax-exempt diesel draws skepticism from farmers, eludes others

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order this month to expand access to tax-exempt diesel as soaring prices frustrate voters ahead of midterm elections. But farmers say it is too risky to use the fuel on public roads, while some other drivers do not have access to it. Trump has sought to lower prices and boost his sagging ⁠approval ratings through a series of actions focused on fuel, including an $8 billion financial support program he announced on Monday to offset diesel costs for farmers during the autumn harvest.

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 US, 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.

Trump heads to Iowa as Republicans fight for seats in longtime stronghold

President Donald Trump heads to Iowa on Thursday to shore up Republicans in a state he won by 13 percentage points two years ago, but where his weakened standing and voter anxiety over his policies have complicated the party's prospects in the ⁠November 3 midterm elections. Trump will hold a rally in Sioux City as Republicans defend a Senate seat, three House districts and the governor's office, giving Democrats an opening after years of Republican gains.

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 Supreme Court rulings reshape midterm election battlefield

The November 3 midterm elections are quickly approaching after an electoral cycle shaped to an unusual degree by decisions of the US Supreme Court, a development that prompted Justice Elena Kagan to voice alarm this week. Republicans generally have fared better than Democrats in the spate of recent election-related cases, including in rulings on redrawing congressional districts and rolling back campaign finance restrictions. It remains to be seen, however, whether these legal victories will help President Donald Trump's party in its quest to retain control of Congress in the midterms.

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."

Factbox-Who are the Americans detained in Russia?

Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher, from prison on Wednesday, as Moscow and Washington held a new round of talks about settling the war in Ukraine. At least nine publicly identified Americans are believed to remain imprisoned in Russia, although the full number may be higher.

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

American national Stephen Hubbard has arrived back in ⁠the United States, following his release from detention in Russia by President Vladimir Putin at the start of talks with US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday. Here are details of Hubbard's case:WHO IS STEPHEN HUBBARD?

Meta ⁠strikes deal to keep Zuckerberg in California after wealth tax concerns

Meta Platforms has struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to keep him living in California after the CEO warned he was considering leaving the state that houses the company's headquarters if voters pass a wealth tax proposal next month. Under the deal, Zuckerberg will get non-voting shares he can sell to potentially foot a multi-billion-dollar tax bill in the event the proposal is approved, in exchange for a commitment to remain a resident of California, or wherever Meta maintains its headquarters, for eight years, Meta said on Wednesday.

High gas prices strain Detroit's hungry and food banks ahead of midterm elections

A neatly packed cardboard box of pasta, dry beans, canned goods and powdered milk made Tonya King cry. “I’ve been waiting for this,” said King, a 65-year-old Detroit grandmother, her voice cracking while tears streamed down her face. “Finally, my daughter called me and said ‘he’s coming.'"

New World screwworm cases confirmed in wildlife in Texas, beef cow in New Mexico

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