Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden seeking to boost rail, sea shipping competition -White House

President Joe Biden will order U.S. transportation agencies to crack down on anti-competitive conduct and unjust fees in the rail and sea shipping industries to try to lower costs to consumers, the White House said on Thursday. Biden will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. and sign an "executive order on promoting competition in the American economy," the administration said. The order is expected to include dozens of provisions to boost competition, officials said.

Researchers revise outlook for above-average hurricane season

Researchers from Colorado State University boosted their prediction for named tropical storms in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season in a revised forecast issued on Thursday. Colorado State meteorologists predicted 20 named storms, up from 17 in their forecast issued in April.

Michael Avenatti sentenced to 2-1/2 years prison for Nike extortion scheme

Michael Avenatti, the brash lawyer who shot to fame representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against Donald Trump before a swirl of criminal charges ended his legal career, was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison on Thursday for trying to extort Nike Inc. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan said Avenatti, 50, "had become drunk on the power of his platform" in betraying his client, a youth basketball coach, for his own gain.

Florida group charged with attack on police during U.S. Capitol riot

U.S. prosecutors have arrested a group of Florida residents and charged them with attacking police officers during the deadly Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents unsealed on Thursday. Four people from the Tampa Bay area — Olivia Pollock, Joshua Doolin, Joseph Hutchinson and Michael Perkins — were arrested on June 30, prosecutors said. A fifth person, Jonathan Daniel Pollock, has not been apprehended.

Death toll in Florida condo collapse rises by 6 to 60

Crews searching the collapsed condominium tower near Miami recovered an additional six bodies, bringing the death toll to 60, officials said on Thursday, one day after declaring there was no longer hope of finding anyone alive. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference that 80 people were still considered missing in the disaster, believed to have been inside the Champlain Towers South when it abruptly crumbled in the early hours of June 24.

U.S. administers 332.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 332,345,797 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Thursday morning and distributed 385,495,790 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 331,651,464 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by July 7.

Toyota halting contributions to U.S. lawmakers who opposed Biden certification

Toyota Motor Corp's political action committee will halt donations to U.S. members of Congress who voted against President Joe Biden's election certification in January, the company said on Thursday. The largest Japanese automaker has faced harsh criticism for donations to some lawmakers - members of then-President Donald Trump's Republican Party - who voted against certification of Biden's win in some U.S. states.

Texas lawmakers take up limits on voting, abortion in special session

Texas lawmakers kicked off a special session on Thursday to consider a range of Republican-backed measures, including voting restrictions that Democratic members previously blocked in a dramatic legislative walkout. Republican Governor Greg Abbott has also instructed state lawmakers to consider bills that would block transgender students from competing in athletics that correspond with their gender identity, fund arrests of immigrants living in the country illegally, restrict abortion access and limit teaching about the role of racism in the United States.

U.S. civil rights leaders vow to keep up fight for voting rights

U.S. civil rights leaders emerged from a White House meeting with President Joe Biden on Thursday vowing a "summer of activism" to battle new voting restrictions enacted in Republican-led states in recent months. Vice President Kamala Harris also said on Thursday that the Democratic Party would invest $25 million in voter registration and education efforts.

U.S. chose not to prosecute 82% of hate-crime suspects from 2005-2019

The U.S. Justice Department declined to prosecute 82% of people suspected of federal hate crimes over most of the past two decades, it said in a research report on Thursday, revealing a rate of prosecution far lower than that for other federal crimes. The report illustrates the complexity of the job ahead for Attorney General Merrick Garland as he aims to increase federal prosecutors' focus on hate crimes and improve coordination with local law enforcement and community advocacy groups.