Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The administration in May released a national strategy to combat antisemitism that also made a reference to countering hatred against Muslims, but the effort gained momentum in the wake of the ongoing deadly clash between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Biden kicks off rural America tour in Minnesota U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said consolidation in meat processing and retail chains over the decades has hurt U.S. farmers and announced $5 billion in new investments benefiting rural Americans during a visit to a family farm in Minnesota.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

White House works on new measures to counter Islamophobia

The White House said Wednesday it will develop a national strategy to battle Islamophobia as President Joe Biden faces skepticism from many Muslim Americans for his staunch support of Israel's military assault on Hamas in Gaza in response to the militant group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The launch of the anti-Islamophobia effort has been expected for months. The administration in May released a national strategy to combat antisemitism that also made a reference to countering hatred against Muslims, but the effort gained momentum in the wake of the ongoing deadly clash between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Biden kicks off rural America tour in Minnesota

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said consolidation in meat processing and retail chains over the decades has hurt U.S. farmers and announced $5 billion in new investments benefiting rural Americans during a visit to a family farm in Minnesota. The trip, the first stop in what the White House is billing as a two-week "barnstorming" tour, will also see 13 top administration officials visit rural places in 15 states, including election battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona. They will highlight investments in rural communities, where one in five Americans live.

US House Speaker Johnson to bring Israel bill to floor despite deficit risk

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday he plans to hold a vote on a standalone Israel aid bill despite a Congressional Budget Office report showing it could increase the federal deficit. In the first major legislative action under Johnson, House Republicans unveiled their bill on Monday seeking to provide $14.3 billion for Israel by cutting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding.

US Senate passes three bipartisan appropriations bills

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed three bills laying out funding plans for agriculture, military and veterans affairs and transportation for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2024. THE TAKE

Biden and first lady to visit Maine on Friday to mourn shooting victims

U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel on Friday to Lewiston, Maine, where 18 people were shot and killed at a bar and bowling alley last week, the White House said on Wednesday. Robert R. Card, 40, a U.S. Army reservist, sprayed the bowling alley and bar with gunfire in the rural Maine town. He took his own life inside a cargo trailer parked on the lot of a recycling plant where he once worked.

New US House speaker faces early test on Israel, government funding

Republican Mike Johnson, the untried speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, vowed on Wednesday to push forward with a $14.3 billion Israel aid bill, despite advice by nonpartisan researchers that his plan to offset the cost would actually increase the federal deficit. In his first real test as Congress's top Republican, the Louisiana lawmaker will also try to pass three 2024 spending bills this week, as he tries to unify his splintered House majority around a temporary funding measure to address a potential government shutdown deadline on Nov. 17.

US House blocks rebuke of Tlaib over Israeli-Palestinian rally

The U.S. House of Representatives, in a bipartisan 222-186 vote on Wednesday, defeated a resolution to censure U.S. Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib after she spoke at a rally that called for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the resolution on Oct. 26, accusing Tlaib of "antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Complex."

Donald Trump Jr. says he played minor role in company finances

Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. testified on Wednesday that he had little to do with preparing financial documents at the family real-estate company that a judge has found fraudulent, in a trial that could hobble the former U.S. president's business empire. Over the course of one and a half hours on the witness stand, Donald Jr. said he provided cash-flow figures to company accountants while he and his brother Eric oversaw the Trump Organization during their father's 2017-2021 presidency.

Republican mega-donor Adelson met with Haley in Las Vegas -sources

Casino billionaire and mega Republican donor Miriam Adelson met in Las Vegas with 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who has been rising in the polls in key states, over the weekend, two sources briefed on the meeting said. The previously unreported meeting during a gathering of Republican Jewish donors is likely a positive sign for Haley given Adelson's status as one of the pre-eminent Republican donors.

Memphis officer charged in Tyre Nichols death to change plea

One of the five former Memphis police officers charged in the death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols has asked a U.S. District Court judge to change his plea of not guilty in the federal civil rights case, court records showed on Wednesday. Desmond Mills Jr., who previously pleaded not guilty along with the four other defendants, has a change of plea hearing scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT) before Judge Mark Norris in the Western District of Tennessee, the court file shows.