Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The request includes $4 billion over five years in mandatory funding for this purpose, including $2 billion to create a new international infrastructure fund to provide a credible, reliable alternative to Chinese infrastructure funding, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Rich Verma told a news briefing. Factbox-Fewer submarines, more police detectives: highlights of Biden's budget President Joe Biden released a $7.3 trillion proposed U.S. government budget for the 2025 fiscal year on Monday, including tax, spending and economic forecasts for the world's largest economy.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump asks to delay hush money trial until US Supreme Court reviews immunity claim

Donald Trump on Monday asked the New York judge overseeing his criminal case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star to delay the trial until the U.S. Supreme Court finishes reviewing his claim of presidential immunity in a separate case. The first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president is set to begin on March 25 in a New York state court in Manhattan.

Biden's $7.3 trillion budget is campaign pitch for spending, tax goals

U.S. President Joe Biden sketched his policy vision for a potential second four-year term on Monday, unveiling a $7.3 trillion election-year budget aimed at convincing skeptical Americans that he can run the economy better than Donald Trump. Biden wants to raise taxes by trillions on corporations and high earners, his budget wish-list showed, to help cut the deficit and pay for new programs assisting those who make less cope with high housing and childcare costs. Congress is unlikely to adopt the measures as proposed.

Exclusive-Former US official's work for Chinese client stirs concern over disclosure loopholes

When a Chinese drone company came under U.S. government scrutiny over its alleged ties to China's military, the company turned to one of America's pre-eminent lawyers: Loretta Lynch, a former attorney general in the Obama administration. Lynch, who ran the U.S. Department of Justice from 2015 to 2017 and is now a partner at the Paul, Weiss law firm, wrote a letter to a senior Defense Department official last July on behalf of SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd, asking that her client be removed from a list of Chinese military companies.

Biden's meager 1% US defense budget increase buys fewer ships, jets

President Joe Biden's overall U.S. defense and national security budget request released on Monday is just 1% higher than last year, forcing a slowdown in spending on a wide range of programs and delaying efforts to rebuild weapons stocks depleted by wars in Ukraine and Israel. The $895 billion national security budget request, which includes funds for homeland security as well as nuclear weapons-related activities carried out by the Department of Energy, is the result of a two-year budget deal struck in mid-2023 that limited the budget to a 1% increase.

US State Department requests $4 billion to outcompete China

The United States must employ "all the tools at our disposal" to outcompete China, a top U.S. State Department official said on Monday, as the Biden administration unveiled its budget request for the 2025 fiscal year. The request includes $4 billion over five years in mandatory funding for this purpose, including $2 billion to create a new international infrastructure fund to provide a credible, reliable alternative to Chinese infrastructure funding, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Rich Verma told a news briefing.

Factbox-Fewer submarines, more police detectives: highlights of Biden's budget

President Joe Biden released a $7.3 trillion proposed U.S. government budget for the 2025 fiscal year on Monday, including tax, spending and economic forecasts for the world's largest economy. Here are some highlights of the proposal:

Trump calls TikTok a threat but says some kids could 'go crazy' without it

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday that TikTok was a national security threat but also said that a ban on the popular app would hurt some kids and only strengthen Meta Platforms' Facebook, which the Republican has harshly criticized. Trump reiterated his concerns as lawmakers weigh a bill this week that would give TikTok owner ByteDance about six months to divest the popular short video app.

New Trump-backed Republican party leadership pushes out officials, source says

The recently elected leadership of the Republican National Committee (RNC), backed by former President Donald Trump, has begun the process of pushing out 60 officials at the organization, according to a source familiar with the situation.

RNC members voted last week to appoint North Carolina Republican Party head Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, Trump's daughter-in-law, as chair and co-chair of the organization that will play a key role in marshaling voters and funds for the Nov. 5 general elections.

US Senator Menendez pleads not guilty to obstruction of justice charges

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez pleaded not guilty on Monday to a new indictment charging him with obstruction of justice, as the embattled Democratic lawmaker's corruption trial draws near.

Menendez entered the plea at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan.

Biden budget plan would raise US taxes by $4.951 trillion over decade -Treasury

President Joe Biden's proposed U.S. government budget would raise tax receipts by $4.951 trillion over 10 years, including more than $2.7 trillion in tax hikes on businesses and nearly $2 trillion on wealthy individuals and estates, the U.S. Treasury said on Monday. The budget plan also calls for an additional $104.3 billion in mandatory funding for the Internal Revenue Service on top of $80 billion won by the tax agency in 2022, the Treasury said in its "Green Book" estimates of the budget's revenue effects.