Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. Supreme Court to weigh overseas anti-AIDS funding restrictions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to hear arguments over whether a U.S. law violates constitutional free speech rights by requiring overseas affiliates of American-based nonprofit groups that seek federal funding for HIV/AIDS relief to formally adopt a stance against prostitution and sex trafficking. The case is the second in which the nine justices will hear arguments by teleconference following Monday's debut of the call-in format prompted by the coronavirus pandemic in a trademark dispute involving hotel reservation website Booking.com. U.S. Treasury's Mnuchin says Trump eyeing restaurant tax changes, travel boost

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said bipartisan discussions are underway over whether more U.S. government relief funding is needed amid the nation's novel coronavirus outbreak, but that President Donald Trump is focused on taxes and travel. In an interview on Fox Business Network, Mnuchin said the Trump administration was prepared to back additional coronavirus stimulus money for American businesses if needed, but that right now it was carefully monitoring the economy as some states restart activity. Trump allies on the sidelines in Supreme Court financial records fight

Congressional Republicans who strenuously objected when a Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives panel subpoenaed President Donald Trump's financial records last year have remained unusually quiet now that the fight has reached the Supreme Court. Representative Jim Jordan, the House Oversight and Reform Committee's senior Republican, described the move in an April 15, 2019, letter as "an unprecedented abuse of the committee's subpoena authority to target and expose the private financial information of the president of the United States." Open for lunch: California counties with few coronavirus cases re-start their economies

California state restrictions banning restaurants from offering sit-down meals have not yet been lifted, but you wouldn't know that in downtown Yuba City, where families queued cheerfully for tables at the Happy Viking Sports Pub and Eatery. The restaurant opened its doors to the public for the first time in 50 days on Monday, after county officials ruled that restaurants, retail stores and fitness centers could open if patrons and staff obeyed social distancing rules - even though restrictions technically remain in place for the entire state. New projection puts U.S. COVID-19 deaths at nearly 135,000 by August

A new forecast projects nearly 135,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States through the beginning of August mainly due to reopening measures under way, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington said on Monday. The forecast U.S. death toll through early August totaled 134,475, a midrange between 95,092 and 242,890, the IHME said. The revised projection almost doubles the number of deaths foreseen in the United States since the last estimate in mid-April. Texas back in business? Barely, y'all, as malls, restaurants empty

The Domain mall in Austin, Texas, is open for business - unlike most of its 100 upscale shops - as the state entered its first work week of eased pandemic restrictions in the hopes of rekindling the economy. A dozen or so people were strolling about the sprawling open-air shopping center Monday afternoon, with three seated on the patio of a Tex-Mex restaurant. Only one shopper wore a mask, and the loudest noises were from songbirds perched in the live oak trees along the deserted pedestrian thoroughfares. U.S. Senate returns to Washington amid concerns about coronavirus risk

The U.S. Senate convened in Washington for the first time in nearly six weeks on Monday, despite concern it might put lawmakers and staff at risk of contracting the coronavirus, but made clear it could take weeks to pass any new relief legislation. Party leaders raised partisan differences as soon as the Senate opened over the next step in how to combat the pandemic, nominations for senior government posts put forward by President Donald Trump and even the decision to return. Researchers double U.S. COVID-19 death forecast, citing eased restrictions

A newly revised coronavirus mortality model predicts nearly 135,000 Americans will die from COVID-19 by early August, almost double previous projections, as social-distancing measures for quelling the pandemic are increasingly relaxed, researchers said on Monday. The ominous new forecast from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) reflect "rising mobility in most U.S. states" with an easing of business closures and stay-at-home orders expected in 31 states by May 11, the institute said. Tents and immunity testing: U.S. colleges weigh return to campus life

Classes in tents. Roommates assigned based on coronavirus antibody tests. Residences set aside for quarantined students. U.S. college life could look dramatically different when classes resume in the fall. Colleges emptied dormitories and moved classes online in March as the pandemic worsened — a decision that left many students clamoring for partial refunds. U.S. Senate panel to question Trump's pick to oversee coronavirus bailout money

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday will start scrutinizing the lawyer tapped by President Donald Trump to oversee a $500 billion fund to rescue larger businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with Democrats worried he is too close to the White House to be independent. The Senate Banking Committee said it would hold its first hearing since the Republican-controlled chamber returned from more than a month's recess and as Democrats and Republicans spar over whether to add to the almost $3 trillion in spending they have authorized to ease the virus' heavy economic toll.