Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump administration's embrace of "perp" futures sets off risk alarms for Wall Street stalwarts

The Trump administration's push to bring novel offshore perpetual futures to the US is raising alarms, according to interviews with four ​executives at incumbent exchanges and other key market participants who warned that the products will introduce serious new risks to the multitrillion-dollar derivatives market. Pioneered in non-US crypto markets, perpetual ​futures, or "perps," trade around the clock and do not expire, meaning investors can hold positions indefinitely. They are usually ‌leveraged, sometimes ​by as much as 50 times, and are predominantly traded by retail or individual investors.

With Stephen Miller at the helm, Trump charts a course for conflict

President Donald Trump's decision to elevate loyalist Stephen Miller to run his White House indicates that he plans to ramp up confrontation in his final two years in office and block outside political and economic pressures, Trump administration officials and other Republicans say. Voters delivered a historic rebuke to Republicans in Tuesday's midterm election, but with Miller as White House chief of staff, the Trump administration is expected to continue ‌its aggressive immigration crackdown, amplify cultural conflicts and give no ground to a Democratic-controlled Congress, say officials and experts who spoke to Reuters. They say wavering Republicans will face increased pressure to stay in line, while businesses may have a harder time making their case to the White House.

Democratic wins in state AG races give Trump a new headache

Democrats flipped attorney general offices in five Republican-leaning states in the midterm elections, dealing a significant blow to the conservative legal movement and erecting a new line of resistance against President Donald Trump's agenda. The victories in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa and Kansas threaten to disrupt conservative legal strategy. Incoming Democratic attorneys general could halt cooperation with federal immigration operations, fortify abortion access and file multistate challenges against the Trump administration's environmental and gun policies.

With Stephen ‌Miller at the helm, Trump charts a course for conflict

President Donald Trump's decision to elevate loyalist Stephen Miller to run his White House indicates that he plans to ramp up confrontation in his final two years in office and block outside political and economic pressures, Trump administration officials and other Republicans say. Voters delivered a historic rebuke to Republicans in Tuesday's ‌midterm election, but with Miller as White House chief of staff, the Trump administration is expected to continue its aggressive immigration crackdown, amplify cultural conflicts and give no ground to a Democratic-controlled Congress, say officials and experts who spoke to Reuters. They say wavering Republicans will face increased pressure to stay in line, while businesses may have a harder time making their case to the White House.

US Congress gets first post-'Blue Wave' crack at data centers with permitting bill

A sweeping bipartisan energy bill has unexpectedly emerged as the US Congress' first test of how to tackle public anger over data centers and rising electricity costs, which helped to power Democrats to a landslide election victory last week. The legislation, years in the making and due to come before the Senate for debate on Monday, would speed approvals for new power plants and transmission lines, while requiring large data center operators to bear more of the cost of ⁠grid upgrades needed to serve ​them.

Factbox-Democratic attorney general wins could reshape US lawsuits on abortion, immigration and more

Republicans lost state attorney ⁠general races to Democrats in key states in the November 3 midterm elections, with potential consequences for lawsuits related to abortion, transgender rights and other issues that the outgoing Republicans championed. Democrats will take over state attorney general offices in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Texas.

Houston mayor curtails police cooperation with ICE, saying 'elections matter'

Days after elections that swept Democrats to statewide leadership in Texas, Houston's mayor ordered his city's police department on Friday to curtail its cooperation with federal immigration ⁠officers, contrary to Republican-backed state law. Mayor John Whitmire said he was taking the action, after consulting with the state's newly elected governor, lieutenant governor and comptroller, to "reduce fear and anxiety" across the most populous city in Texas and because "elections matter."

Trump says he expects Rubio to remain as secretary of state

Trump expressed confidence that Marco Rubio would remain as secretary of state, saying he expected the former Florida senator to stay ​in the role when asked about his future in the administration during a CBS "60 Minutes" interview. "I think so," Trump said, without elaborating, when asked if Rubio would stay.

How the US was left exposed to the flesh-eating screwworm, years into the outbreak

For decades, planes dropped billions of factory-bred sterile flies to keep the flesh-eating New World ⁠screwworm out of North America’s cattle. That controls the pest because sterile males mate with wild females – whose eggs then fail to hatch. But the strategy works only if the supply of flies never runs short.

Trump says AI risks can be managed, signals openness to guardrails

US President Donald Trump said the risks posed by artificial intelligence can be managed but signaled an openness to safeguards, telling CBS's "60 Minutes" that he "doesn't mind guardrails." Asked whether the United States should accept the risks of artificial intelligence ⁠in ​order to stay ahead of China, Trump said the dangers were manageable and expressed openness to working with Democrats on safeguards.

Trump says he wants UFC chief Dana White for White House press secretary

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had asked mixed martial arts promoter Dana White to serve as White House press secretary and called on him to bring some fighters along as assistants "even though some are not from our country." White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a "violent Fighter and Warrior," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Trump says 'only kidding' about naming UFC CEO as White House press secretary

President Donald Trump on Sunday said he was "only kidding" when he suggested UFC CEO Dana White could become his next White House press ⁠secretary, after a social media post a day earlier stirred speculation about recruiting his feisty ally and signaled a combative approach to dealing with Democrats as they prepare to take control of Congress. Trump said White, a prominent supporter, "loves the idea" of taking the job but insisted he had not been serious about the prospect, describing the suggestion as "just a little ⁠fun."

Employers, watchmen at California ports extend contract talks

The Los Angeles and Long Beach seaports employer group and the ⁠International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26 extended their bargaining deadline through November 20, averting a potential strike by about 2% of workers at the busiest US container port complex. The Pacific Maritime Association said on Friday that additional talks were scheduled with the union representing about 250 maritime watchmen at the ports.

'Trump has cost us': After midterm losses, MAGA asks if it's over

As Republicans faced a nationwide drubbing in Tuesday’s midterm elections, supporters streamed out of a Dallas ballroom where they’d hoped to toast a win for US Senate candidate Ken Paxton, ‌a favorite of President Donald Trump. In the hotel bar, Michael Little, ‌a 59-year-old businessman and three-time Trump voter, stared at the president’s image on a television screen. “People are pissed off at Trump. Trump has cost us,” he said, capturing a sentiment rippling through ​the president’s Make America Great Again movement after the Republican Party’s worst electoral defeat in decades.