Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. North Carolina political operative charged for election fraud scheme: local media

The North Carolina Republican political operative at the center of an absentee ballot fraud scheme that prompted the state to order a re-run of a congressional race was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice on Wednesday, local media reported. The operative, Leslie McCrae Dowless, was charged by the Wake County District Attorney's office, WRAL.com and WSOC-9 reported, citing a statement from that office. Officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. House approves expanded background checks for gun sales

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would expand background checks for gun sales to include firearm purchases at gun shows and over the internet, a measure likely to face Senate and White House opposition. The background check bill, which was approved by a 240-190 vote, is the first gun control measure taken up by Democrats since they regained control of the House in the 2018 congressional midterm elections. U.S. top court sympathetic toward Maryland cross in major religion case

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday signaled a willingness to let a 40-foot-tall (12 meters) cross-shaped war memorial stay on public land in Maryland despite a legal challenge that called it an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. But during a lively 70-minute oral argument in the major case about the separation of church and state, the justices appeared unlikely to issue a sweeping ruling allowing greater government involvement in religious expression. Ex-lawyer Cohen assails 'conman' Trump, gives no direct evidence of collusion

U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen accused him of breaking the law while in office and said for the first time that Trump knew in advance about a WikiLeaks dump of stolen emails that hurt his 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton. In a dramatic televised hearing in Congress on Wednesday, Cohen said Trump approved hush payments to cover up extra-marital sexual relationships in violation of campaign finance laws, and signed a personal check for $35,000 in 2017 to reimburse Cohen for at least one of those payments. Most Americans back transgender troops: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Nearly 60 percent of Americans said transgender people should be allowed to serve in the U.S. armed forces, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll conducted ahead of a congressional panel's review, set for Wednesday, of Trump administration curbs on transgender service. The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 22 ruled in favor of letting the Trump administration enforce its policy of barring many transgender people from the military. Implementation of the policy has been delayed by legal wrangling in a lower court case that the Supreme Court did not directly address. U.S. top court backs killer who forgot crime in death penalty case

States cannot execute prisoners who are incapable of rationally understanding the reasons for their punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, siding with an Alabama man who has suffered strokes and dementia that wiped out his memory of murdering a police officer in 1985. In a 5-3 decision with conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's four liberals, the justices threw out an Alabama state court ruling that Vernon Madison, 68, was legally eligible to be executed, directing the lower court to reconsider the case. Long Island train strikes truck, killing three: authorities

Three people were killed on Tuesday when a commuter train headed into New York City collided with their vehicle, local police said. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train bound for Penn Station in Manhattan struck the truck at a little after 7:15 p.m. (0015 GMT) in Westbury, New York, the train service said on Twitter. Worst flooding in decades turns California town into island

The worst flooding in over 20 years turned the Northern California community of Guerneville into an island on Wednesday after authorities ordered thousands of residents to get out or risk being stranded for days. Water rose to the roofs of homes and submerged cars as the rain-swollen Russian River overflowed its banks, forcing authorities in Sonoma County, about 70 miles (110 km) north of San Francisco, to evacuate 3,600 people, local authorities reported. Sully, George H.W. Bush's dog, starts new job with wounded U.S. service members, veterans

Lifting his thick paw to shake, former President George H.W. Bush's service dog took an oath to serve at Walter Reed National Medical Center on Wednesday, embarking on a new job helping disabled American veterans and active-duty service members. Sully H. W. Bush became famous as canine caretaker and constant companion to the 41st U.S. president in the final stages of his life. In the Capitol rotunda after Bush's death in 2018, Sully faithfully laid down beside Bush's casket. U.S. bars lithium batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft

The U.S. government said on Wednesday it is issuing new rules barring airlines from carrying potentially hazardous lithium-ion cells and batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft, and setting new requirements for transporting them on cargo planes. The U.S. Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) unveiled the new rules after Congress last year ordered the agency to complete them by early 2019. The agency is adopting requirements that have been force in other countries since 2016.