Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Appeals court rules against Trump administration on New York highway funds

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration overstepped its authority in April when it withheld $73.5 million in highway funding from New York over the state's refusal to revoke some commercial driver licenses issued to foreign drivers. The US Transportation Department (USDOT) withheld the funding, citing an audit that found New York had been routinely issuing commercial driver ​licenses to foreign drivers illegally.

Wisconsin reports second child death linked to measles outbreak

Wisconsin health officials on Friday reported the death of a second child linked to an ongoing measles outbreak in the state.

Freighter collides with cruise ship in New Orleans, passengers in the water

A tanker ship collided on Friday with ​an American Cruise Lines passenger ship that was docked in New Orleans on the Mississippi River, where rescue efforts were under way for multiple passengers in the water. US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ‌wrote on social media that "we ​are throwing every asset we have to helping rescue missing passengers" and that his department was coordinating closely with state officials.

Tim Cook for Nvidia CEO? Trump and the world ponder who's next

When it comes to the next CEO of Nvidia, Donald Trump is thinking outside the box. After the AI chip company's board parted ways with chief Jensen Huang, the US president said on social media on Thursday, "There is only one man to take his place - TIM COOK of Apple. A Legend replaces a Legend!"

Son of ex-CIA chief Brennan charged over sexual images of minor girls

The son of former CIA Director John Brennan was charged on Friday with "transportation of child pornography," according to court documents and a US law enforcement official. Kyle Brennan, of Warrenton, Virginia, was charged after an FBI review of his cellphone found 88 images that appeared to depict minor girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to a criminal complaint filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Fed's Barr: US should prepare for 'serious' AI job disruption, widening ‌inequality

The US should be prepared for "serious short-term disruptions" to the job market because of artificial intelligence which, depending on how fast it is deployed, could begin displacing workers at scale and widening inequality in favor of investors, Fed Governor Michael Barr said on Thursday. His comments, not predicting but suggesting preparation for social strains because of AI, follow midterm elections that swung partly on a backlash to the rapid AI buildout. They also precede a public Fed forum in San Francisco on Monday by a task force appointed by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh to explore what the new technology may mean for the economy.

US extends shipping law waiver 90 days, to allow freer movement of oil, commodities

President Donald Trump extended for 90 days a waiver of a shipping law to allow foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and other commodities between US ports, a White House official said on Friday. Reuters reported on Thursday that industry sources said the administration would extend the waiver on the more than 100-year-old Jones Act.

Democrat Holscher wins Kansas governor's race amid datacenter backlash

Democrat Cindy Holscher, who campaigned on a moratorium for data-center development, won the Kansas governor's race as the tech backlash reverberated in one of the country's most conservative states. The state lawmaker beat her Republican rival Ty Masterson despite the state’s largest transit and railroad union, as well as a local chapter of the IBEW electrical workers union, backing her opponent over the issue.

Kansas towns hit by ICE ‌raids flipped to Democrats. Now they demand accountability

Early last month, in a starkly lit meeting room in southwest Kansas, Amy Soberanes stood to address members of the Dodge City commission. It had been two weeks since US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended on the city, and she and other community organizers peppered the commissioners with questions: What had they known? Why had the area been targeted? How would the city respond if it happened again?

Bessent blames Commerce Dept over lack of export controls for Nvidia partner Megaspeed

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that four government agencies favored putting Megaspeed, the Singapore company at the heart of the Nvidia scandal, ‌on a trade black list but not the Commerce Department that was in charge. Bessent said Treasury, Pentagon, the State Department and the U.S. Trade Representative's Office had favored adding Megaspeed to the Commerce Department entity list for months. "But Commerce has the pen," Bessent told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "You will have to ask them about their internal processes."

Republican Lauren Boebert, a colorful conservative, loses reelection bid in Colorado, according to US media

US Representative Lauren Boebert, an outspoken Republican whose colorful behavior on and off Capitol Hill made her a household name far beyond her Colorado district, lost her reelection bid, US media outlets projected on Friday. Boebert was narrowly defeated by Democrat Eileen Laubacher, a retired US Navy rear admiral, in a district that President Donald Trump had carried by 18 points in 2024.

Uber says US drivers' license data stolen in data breach

Uber said an unauthorized party used compromised credentials at a service provider to access its data, according to a notice posted on the California attorney general's website. The notice, dated November 10, said the provider told Uber on October 9 that the credentials had been compromised and used to access Uber's account with the provider. Uber severed its data connections with the provider and opened an investigation.

US measles cases rise to 5,412, CDC says

The US CDC on Friday reported 5,412 measles cases in the country as of November 12, up by 230 from the previous update, as the country battles its worst outbreak of the viral infection in decades. Here are key details:

US Congress Democrats plot 'must-have' victories in 2027

Democrats poised to take full control of the US Congress next year are aiming for a fast start in the opening weeks of January, with what they say will be a response ⁠to voters' top concerns in the aftermath ​of the party's huge wins on November 3. In statements and interviews, prominent Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate told Reuters their initial forays could address voter frustration over the Iran ⁠war, high consumer prices, and affordable healthcare.

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin report measles-linked deaths as cases rise

Health officials in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin reported a measles-associated death each on Friday as the worst outbreak in decades spreads across the US. Pennsylvania's seventh measles-linked death this year involved an unvaccinated Montour County resident, the state health department said. The state has recorded 1,542 cases in 46 counties as of Friday, including 305 hospitalizations.

Incoming House Speaker Jeffries heckled at Democratic conference

Hakeem Jeffries, set to become US House Speaker when Democrats take control of Congress in January, was heckled by protesters on Friday who accused him of being too timid to address the high cost of living that fueled voter frustration in the midterm elections. Jeffries was speaking at a gathering of Democrats in Denver to debate the future direction of the party after it routed President Donald Trump's Republicans in the November ⁠3 elections. About 10 hecklers shouted at Jeffries, a moderate, demanding new, more progressive party leaders.

US National Weather Service says its radars operating normally

The US National Weather Service said on Friday its radars were operating normally and its radar website was fully operational. The NWS said outdated content from isolated webpages had been circulating but that there was no radar outage.

Vance, Rubio, Ossoff and Buttigieg lead 2028 White House hopefuls, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

Four potential contenders in the 2028 race for the White House have caught American voters' attention with their early jockeying: Republicans JD Vance and Marco Rubio and Democrats Jon Ossoff and Pete Buttigieg, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. None of the four has yet formally launched a campaign and the parties' 2028 nominating contests are more than a year away, leaving plenty ​of time for new contenders to emerge and for voters' views to change.

Chris Van Hollen announces run for US Senate majority leader, challenging Schumer

Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Thursday he would run for Senate majority leader, challenging Chuck Schumer, who has led the Democrats in the Senate since 2017, after the Democratic Party won a majority in the chamber in the midterm elections. Schumer, who is expected to retain his party's leadership in the chamber but previously predicted not having a challenger, released his own statement on Thursday saying he had the votes to continue as the Democratic leader in ⁠the Senate.

Bessent, Fed's Goolsbee divided on role of energy shock in inflation

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that the Federal Reserve should not hike rates because of inflation driven by an "energy supply shock" tied to the Iran war, comments made to CNBC and promptly contradicted on the network by Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, who said price pressures were building far beyond what could be explained by high oil prices. "I think the Fed should understand that this is an energy supply shock," while the underlying US economy is very strong, Bessent said in an interview on CNBC. "So I think that to hike too much into an energy supply shock when it's coming down, these are very noisy numbers...You know, the Fed's supposed to look into the future, not look in the rearview mirror."

Flights grounded across US after air traffic communications outage

The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights nationwide ⁠on Friday ​after a communications failure hit air traffic control centers, in only the second such shutdown since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The shutdown caused chaos at airports, with airlines canceling more than 1,000 flights and delaying nearly 10,000, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Thousands of aircraft already in the air were allowed to land, while those on the ground could not take off. The disruption quickly spread beyond the United States, forcing the cancellation of flights from Canada and Europe.

Son of ex-CIA chief Brennan charged in child pornography case, official says

The son of former CIA Director John Brennan was charged on Friday with transportation of child pornography, according to court documents and a US law enforcement official.

Supreme Court will weigh Trump's asylum restrictions at US-Mexico border

The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider the legality of President Donald Trump's restrictions on access to asylum at the US-Mexico border, a hardline immigration policy his administration has credited with helping reduce border crossings. The justices took up Trump's appeal of a lower court's ruling that found he exceeded his authority by denying migrants caught entering the country illegally the chance to apply for asylum.

US CDC confirms six measles-related deaths in 2026

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed six measles-related deaths in the US this year, according to the agency's website on Thursday, as the country grapples with its worst resurgence of the virus in decades. The updated figure doubles ⁠the death toll recorded in 2025 and underscores the continuing spread of the highly contagious viral disease, which was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000.

Gunman kills one, wounds four in busy Washington, DC, neighborhood

A gunman killed one person and wounded four others in a busy Washington, DC, neighborhood on Thursday before barricading himself in his apartment and eventually taking his own life following a standoff, officials said. The suspect, whom police identified as Matt Lambert, 55, had been embroiled in a longstanding dispute with his condominium association over mold and moisture in his apartment.

White House denies Hassett departing Trump administration

The White House denied on Friday that ⁠National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett was leaving the Trump administration in the coming weeks. Earlier on Friday, Semafor, citing three people familiar with the plan, reported that Hassett was departing in the coming weeks ⁠and had been inquiring about roles outside the administration since before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which resulted in Democrats retaking both chambers of the US Congress, delivering a blow for Republican President Donald Trump.

US Air Force conducts weapons test on B-21 Raider

The US Department of the Air Force said on Friday it conducted a weapons release test for its B-21 Raider stealth bomber last week, transitioning the next-generation aircraft from flight test into a functional weapons platform. The Air Force had awarded the development contract for the B-21, the United States' next-generation stealth bomber, to Northrop Grumman in 2015.

Democratic US senator probes CoreCivic sale of ICE facility in Minnesota

A top US Democratic senator is investigating the Trump administration's nearly half-billion-dollar purchase of a Minnesota immigration detention facility from CoreCivic, questioning the price and calling on the company and the Department of Homeland Security to preserve records. "In 2025, DHS reportedly purchased the Prairie Correctional Facility from CoreCivic, a major immigration detention contractor, for $495 million — shortly after Minnesota declined to purchase the same facility for $75 million," ‌the office of US Senator Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat who is seeking to lead the Senate Homeland Security and ‌Governmental Affairs Committee when Democrats take control of Congress in January, said on Friday.

White House urges Congress to provide $30.1 billion for aviation reform

The White House and Department of Transportation on Friday urged Congress to approve a further $30.1 billion to upgrade the United States' aging airports and air traffic control system. The world's most complex airspace has experienced a ​series of events in recent years that have disrupted flights and risked safety. In January 2025, a midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people.