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.

Lindsay Clancy loses bid to dismiss murder ​charges, retrial looms

A Massachusetts judge cleared the way on Monday for Lindsay Clancy to be tried again on murder charges for killing her three young children at her home in ‌2023, saying a retrial ​would not unconstitutionally subject her to a double prosecution for the same crime. Judge William Sullivan in Plymouth rejected a bid by Clancy's attorneys to have the case against her dismissed. The judge on September 4 declared a mistrial after the jury reported that a holdout juror was preventing it from reaching a unanimous verdict.

House Democratic leader says lawmakers need answers on Nvidia, wants China chip restrictions

US House of Representatives Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday that Congress needs more answers after reports emerged that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. Jeffries also called for the House to pass an annual defense bill that includes restrictions on chip sales to China that are included in a bill now before the US Senate.

What we know about Nvidia's probe into CEO Jensen Huang

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang faces a board probe into whether he was the target of ‌a foreign intelligence effort after a media report linked him to a Chinese businesswoman accused of passing information to Beijing. The New York Times reported last month that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, an unrelated former executive of Singapore-based company Megaspeed, who US authorities investigated and concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset.

Head of US Justice Department's civil division resigns, says Blanche

US Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate, head of the Justice Department's civil division, has resigned, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Monday in a post on X. Shumate is the fourth senior Justice Department official to resign since President Donald Trump's Republicans suffered significant losses in the midterm elections last week. Here's what to know about his tenure:

At a Jackson store, high prices show why Mississippi US Senate race is so close

Maria Lopez sees the customers at the Mississippi grocery store she manages struggle to afford the basics. It's not much easier for her: she keeps the heater off in her car to save gas and even buying milk at her own store can be hard. "Instead of getting a big gallon, we'll do half a gallon," Lopez, a 42-year-old whose store is in Jackson, said, adding that she is also struggling to afford health insurance and prescriptions. "It's just me and my ‌daughter... I don't know how other families are making it happen that don't have food stamps."

Nvidia spy allegations likely to spur laws to tighten China's access to AI chips

Congress is more likely to pass legislation aimed at tightening China's access to AI chips in light of news that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had a relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence agent, lawmakers and advocates said. Three chip-related measures are slated for possible inclusion in the annual defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2027, which began in October. Huang's affair, and his close relationship with President Donald ‌Trump, has added new urgency to concerns about China's access to advanced chips that could undermine US national security.

US Supreme Court rejects dispute over Roberto Clemente license plates in Puerto Rico

The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge by Roberto Clemente's sons to Puerto Rico's use of the baseball great's image on commemorative license plates and vehicle registration tags, which they alleged violates constitutional protections against government taking of trademark rights. The justices turned away an appeal made by the three sons after lower courts rejected their claims against the Caribbean US territory.

Trump says he would give baseball player Pete Rose a pardon

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he would give a pardon to former professional baseball player Pete Rose.

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.

Supreme Court allows Trump border wall at Big Bend National Park in Texas

The US Supreme Court gave President Donald Trump's administration the green light on Monday to proceed with the construction ⁠of barriers along the US-Mexico border ​in a remote region in West Texas that includes Big Bend National Park, fast-tracking one of his longstanding priorities. The court granted the administration's emergency request to lift a ⁠federal judge's order halting the border wall's construction in the region while a lawsuit against the project brought by an environmental group and other challengers plays out.

US farm agency reorganization lacks transparency, federal watchdog says

The US Department of Agriculture did not provide documentation showing it analyzed potential harms from its agency-wide reorganization, which lacked transparency, according to a report from a federal watchdog agency on Monday. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has aimed to move about half of the USDA's Washington, DC-area employees to hubs around the country as part of the Trump administration's sweeping effort to overhaul the federal government.

White House nominates Palantir's LoSapio to lead Homeland Security's cyber agency

The White House said on Monday it has nominated Michael LoSapio to be the director of ⁠the US Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. LoSapio will take over from acting CISA Director Nick Andersen

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.

Hegseth plays down impeachment risks, says ready to defend his record

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday played down the risks of an impeachment push against him and said he was ​ready to defend his record at the Pentagon. "We're not worried about that," Hegseth said, when asked if he had enough Republican support to defeat articles of impeachment.

Utah judge sets 2028 trial date for Charlie Kirk killing

A Utah judge on Monday set a June 2028 trial date for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of murdering prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk last year. Robinson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts, including aggravated murder, in the shooting of Kirk as the conservative held one of his trademark debates at Utah Valley ⁠University in Orem.

Two arrested near White House in separate incidents, Secret Service says

The U.S. Secret Service arrested two people near the White House on Monday after one person drove a car onto the sidewalk and another jumped a barricade at Lafayette Park in front of the presidential compound. President Donald Trump was at home during the incidents. The White House was placed on lockdown briefly and roads around the park closed.

US FDA orders new eye risk warnings for Ozempic, Zepbound

The US FDA on Monday informed patients and healthcare providers of a potential increased risk of a serious eye condition associated with the use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and diabetes. The US Food and Drug Administration said it is requiring GLP-1 drugs such as Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound, and ⁠Novo Nordisk's ​Ozempic and Wegovy to add information to the "warnings and precautions" section of labeling about the potential increased risk of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).

Pentagon chief Hegseth expected to face House impeachment vote this week

Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, calls himself the secretary of war, part of his effort to rebrand a military he said was too weak and "woke" when he took office last year. Now, with an expected House impeachment vote this week, he could soon share something in common with an actual secretary of war. William Belknap, who held that title in 1876, became the first, and to date only, civilian leader of the US military to be impeached by Congress.

Democratic US senators push for energy permitting bill ahead of key Senate vote

Democratic US Senators Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island rallied on Monday for a bipartisan energy permitting bill ahead of a preliminary vote, arguing recent changes to the legislation and assurances from the Trump administration on stalled wind projects should help win over skeptics in their party. The Senate is expected to vote on Monday evening to open debate on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a sweeping package that would speed approvals for ⁠power plants, transmission lines, mines and other infrastructure projects while requiring large data centers to pay more of the costs of grid upgrades needed to serve them.

US vows to speed up deployment of counter-drone systems to address threats

The Trump administration said on Monday it is taking steps to expedite the use of counter-drone systems to address growing threats. Several US agencies including the Transportation, Pentagon, Energy and Justice departments have signed a memo to evaluate counter-drone technologies and quickly deploy them safely to protect aviation safety and address national security concerns.

Trump approval holds at 32%, ⁠near lowest of his career, Reuters Ipsos poll finds

President Donald Trump's approval rating held near the lowest level of his political career, depressed by national concerns over rising prices that ⁠tanked his Republican Party in last week's midterm elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday. Some 32% of Americans approve of Trump's performance in the White House, unchanged from two prior Reuters/Ipsos polls conducted between late October and early November. It was one percentage point higher than his 31% rating in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in mid-October, the lowest of his career in politics.

Court blocks California from enforcing climate disclosure laws

A federal appeals court dealt a setback to California's desire to enforce first-of-its-kind climate disclosure laws, blocking the state from requiring large companies to disclose climate-related financial risks and "indirect" greenhouse gas emissions. Monday's decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is a partial victory for the US Chamber of Commerce, the American Farm Bureau Federation and several California business groups that sued to block the two state laws.

'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.