Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Soccer-New York City offering $50 World Cup tickets for residents

New York City will offer its residents a chance to snag $50 tickets to World Cup games in New Jersey this summer, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Thursday, with 1,000 affordable tickets up for grabs through a lottery system. The discounted tickets come with free round-trip bus transportation to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and will be split across five group-stage and two knockout games, with 150 tickets available ​per match.

Trump to delay Biden-era refrigerant rules in push to ease costs

The Trump administration intends to delay compliance with two Biden-era rules governing refrigerants as part of a broader effort to unwind the former president’s environmental agenda, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said on Thursday. The actions would affect grocers, semiconductor manufacturers and other companies that use ​hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The compliance requirements stem from a 2023 EPA rule aimed at reducing emissions of the superpollutants.

US HHS launches AI initiative to detect fraud and waste in health ‌programs

The U.S. Department of Health ​and Human Services said on Thursday it has launched a new AI-led initiative to review annual audits to strengthen oversight across federally funded health programs amid concerns around widespread fraud. The program, called the Audit Enforcement and Risk Oversight initiative, or AERO, will review at least five years of audit records of HHS-funded programs across all 50 states, the department said.

Meta settles first US case over school costs tied to youth mental health, court filing shows

Meta Platforms on Thursday settled the first case set for trial seeking to make social media companies cover the costs that school districts say they have incurred to combat a mental health crisis allegedly fueled by platforms. The agreement fully resolves a lawsuit brought by Breathitt County School District in eastern Kentucky, following earlier settlements by co-defendants Alphabet's YouTube, Snap and TikTok. The case had been scheduled for a June 15 trial in federal court in Oakland, California.

Trump postpones AI executive order, cites need to compete with China

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had postponed signing an executive order on AI because he did not like certain aspects of it and did not want to ‌take any steps that might undermine the U.S. position in its AI competition with China. Trump had planned to sign the order at a ceremony on Thursday afternoon attended by CEOs of AI companies.

US House panel votes to advance rail safety legislation

The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 54-11 to approve rail safety language that would boost safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials and toughen rules on railcar wheel bearings. The lawmakers voted to attach the provision to a five-year $580 billion highway bill that is being debated. The vote came after the White House urged lawmakers to pass long-stalled rail safety legislation after the 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern-operated train in Ohio that caught fire and released over a million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants.

Tennessee aborts execution attempt after struggling to find vein

Tennessee prison officials aborted their attempt to execute a man convicted of murders on Thursday after failing to find a suitable vein for a lethal injection. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee later granted a one-year reprieve from execution to Tony Carruthers, 57, who was sentenced to death after he was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994.

Analysis-Trump's $1.776 billion 'weaponization' fund sparks outrage, but court challenges will be tough

Opponents of President Donald Trump's sweeping legal settlement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service will face high hurdles in challenging its $1.776 billion fund for victims of alleged political "weaponization" and its provision barring audits of his taxes, according to legal experts. Congressional Democrats derided the so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund as a slush fund to steer taxpayer dollars to Trump's political allies, while watchdog groups called the tax ‌immunity agreement illegal. Even some Republicans expressed qualms. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, for instance, said he was "not a big fan" of the plan.

Over 2,000 gather in San Diego to mourn three men killed in mosque attack

More than 2,000 people gathered in a San Diego park on Thursday to mourn a security guard and two other men murdered as they tried to stop this week's attack on the city’s largest mosque. Men and women, including police officers in uniform, stood in rows for the Islamic funeral prayer, or Janazah, to remember the three men referred to as heroes by mourners for delaying and distracting the attackers, preventing further bloodshed at a time when children were at the mosque's school.

As Ebola cases rise, ‌Americans returning from DRC must enter US via Washington airport

Americans who have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the last three weeks must only return to the United States through one airport, Washington D.C.'s Dulles International, for enhanced screening for the Ebola virus, the State Department said Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Customs and Border Protection are applying enhanced public health screening at Dulles in response to the DRC Ebola outbreak, which has killed 139 people and infected as many as 600.

US Supreme Court averts inmate's execution in intellectual disability case

A man convicted of a 1997 murder in Alabama will be spared execution after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday kept in place a judicial finding that the inmate is intellectually disabled and thus ineligible for the death penalty. The justices dismissed an appeal by Alabama officials of a lower court's approach to determining Joseph Clifton Smith's intellectual capacity. That method involved weighing multiple intelligence quotient, or IQ, test scores alongside expert testimony.

Trump will swear in Warsh on Friday to lead U.S. Federal Reserve

U.S. President Donald Trump will swear in Kevin Warsh as the chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday at the White House, the Trump administration said on Thursday. Warsh was confirmed to the role in a nearly party-line vote on May 13. He succeeds Jerome H. Powell as the chair of the central bank, though Powell will remain on the board until 2028.

U.S. Senate Republicans meet with AG Blanche on Trump fund

Senate Republicans were meeting with Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday to discuss the Trump administration's $1.8 billion "weaponization" fund Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that his 53 Republican senators want to hear an explanation from Blanche on how the fund would work "and what they (Trump administration officials) intend to do with it."

US House Republicans cancel Iran war powers vote

Republican leaders of the U.S. ⁠House of Representatives unexpectedly canceled a vote on ​Thursday on a resolution seeking to end the Iran war unless President Donald Trump obtains Congress' authorization, two days after a similar measure advanced in the U.S. Senate. The vote had been scheduled to take place ⁠late Thursday afternoon, just before lawmakers left Washington for their Memorial Day recess.

Democrats release ‘autopsy’ on 2024 US election loss but reject findings

Bowing to pressure from within its ranks, the Democratic National Committee released on Thursday its long-withheld “autopsy” of Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race — only to quickly disavow it. The report found that Democrats have ceded ground to Trump's Republicans through under-funding of state parties and a "persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters."

Fishing boats worldwide stuck dockside as diesel prices surge on Iran war

Captain Chris Welch of Kennebunk, Maine, is catching fewer lobsters this spring because spiking diesel prices have made it too costly to take out his fishing boat as often as he normally would. Instead of checking and re-baiting his traps every four or five days to collect the valuable crustaceans, he's doing so every seven to 10 days to conserve fuel.

Official warns US could halt immigration, ⁠customs processing at 'sanctuary city' airports, sources say

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin privately warned that authorities could stop processing international travelers and cargo at major U.S. airports in "sanctuary cities" that have declined to cooperate with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, sources told Reuters. Mullin, who publicly made the threat in April during a Department of Homeland Security funding dispute, privately told travel executives last week that the department could opt to stop customs and immigrations processing of international travelers at airports in cities such as Denver, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, Seattle and San Francisco.

US labor market shows resilience in face of war; housing still subdued

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to labor market resilience and giving the Federal Reserve room to focus on surging inflation from the war with Iran. There are no signs yet that employers are responding ​to rising costs by reducing headcount. The nearly three-month-long U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, boosting energy prices, as well as straining global supply chains and causing shortages of a wide range of goods, including fertilizers, aluminum and consumer products.

Democratic senators raise alarm over foreign investment in Paramount, Warner Bros merger

A group of six Democratic senators have expressed serious concerns about planned foreign ownership interests, including from Gulf sovereign wealth funds, in the proposed $111 billion Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger. Last month, Paramount Skydance asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve foreign investments backing its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. The senators raised concerns about Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds ⁠and Chinese companies taking part.

Acting head of US NIH infectious disease institute has left, senators say

The acting director of the U.S. NIH's infectious disease institute has stepped down, two Democratic senators said on Thursday during a Senate hearing, even as the United States scrambles to respond to Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks. Jeffery Taubenberger became acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in April 2025 after President Donald Trump's administration pushed out the previous head.

Trump administration brings on record new class of immigration judges

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said it had added the largest class of new immigration judges in the agency's history this week as President Donald Trump’s administration moves to restock the immigration court system with people it calls "deportation judges." The Justice Department said 77 new permanent immigration judges and five new temporary ones were sworn in on Wednesday during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., bringing the current total to nearly 700 after the Trump administration fired more than 100 others.

US ⁠drops case ​against protesters of Chicago immigration blitz

Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros said his office is dropping all remaining criminal charges against four people who were indicted after protesting last year outside a holding facility in Broadview, Illinois. A trial had been scheduled to start Tuesday, May 26, in the incident at the Broadview facility, which became a flashpoint of President Donald Trump's immigration blitz. The prosecution's decision to drop the charges made it the latest Justice Department case to fall apart.

Some Fed officials and staff are fretting about state of financial markets

When Kevin Warsh takes command of the Federal Reserve, he will do so as some central bank officials and staff have become increasingly anxious about the state of the financial markets and the risk that presents to the economy. Meeting minutes for the central bank’s late-April Federal Open Market Committee showed that staff as well as a number of policy makers are showing some anxiety about the state of finances, as they wonder how they can shore up the already expansive suite of tools the Fed has in place to deal with market woes.

Families weigh moves with gender-affirming care access under assault in US

Confronted with Trump Administration threats to gender-affirming care for young transgender people, American families are weighing moves out of their states to gain access to needed healthcare, according to doctors, patients, policy experts and advocacy groups. Upon taking office for the second time, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at limiting access to gender-affirming care for patients under age 19, building on legislation or rules in ⁠27 mostly Republican-led states that restrict such care. The order has been temporarily blocked by a judge but the administration continues to push new bans.

Exclusive-US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair warns of China role in Argentina contract bid

U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast has warned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “Chinese malign influence” in a bid for a major contract in Argentina, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The April 23 letter concerns an auction for a 25-year contract to dredge and operate Argentina’s Parana River, a vital waterway for most of the country’s agricultural exports, that Argentina estimates will reach $10 billion in investment.

US Supreme Court deals setback to cruise operators over Cuba confiscations

The U.S. ⁠Supreme Court delivered a setback on Thursday to four American cruise operators that contested $440 million in combined judgments after being accused of unlawfully using docks in Cuba that were seized in 1959 by former leader Fidel Castro's communist ⁠government. The justices, in an 8-1 ruling, set aside a lower court's decision to throw out the judgments against Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Cruises and MSC Cruises. The cruise operators were sued by a U.S. company called Havana Docks Corporation that had built the port facilities before the Cuban revolution.

Minnesota hunger non-profit leader gets 41 years in prison for $250 million fraud scheme

The leader of a Minnesota non-profit group was sentenced to 41 years in prison on Thursday after she was convicted last year of being the ringleader of a $250 million scheme to defraud a federally funded child nutrition program. Aimee Bock, 45, was charged in 2022 with using her non-profit group Feeding Our Future to enact what the Justice Department said was the largest known fraud against the U.S. government's relief programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

US Senate abandons Trump immigration enforcement funding deadline, Republican senators say

The U.S. Senate is abandoning President Donald Trump's June 1 deadline for passing immigration enforcement funding, Republican senators said on Thursday. Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, both of Louisiana, told reporters the Senate was beginning its Memorial Day recess without passing ‌the bill that was intended to contain $1 billion for Trump ballroom and related security and $72 billion for migrant deportations.

Republican revolt over Trump 'weaponization' fund ‌stalls ICE funding vote

U.S. Senate Republicans abandoned plans to vote on a bill to fund U.S. immigration enforcement operations on Thursday in a political revolt against one of President Donald Trump's priorities: a $1.8 billion fund for victims of government "weaponization," including those convicted of violent crimes during the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The Senate walked away from a planned vote on a $72 billion ​bill funding Trump's massive migrant deportation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, delaying the vote at least until June, when lawmakers return from a one-week Memorial Day holiday recess.