Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. White House considers more coronavirus aid as jobs picture worsens

The White House has begun informal talks with Republicans and Democrats in Congress about what to include in another round of coronavirus relief legislation, officials said on Sunday, while predicting further U.S. jobs losses in the coming months. Officials in President Donald Trump's administration, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, said they were holding discussions with lawmakers on issues including potential aid to states whose finances have been devastated by the pandemic. Three key U.S. coronavirus officials in self-quarantine after COVID-19 exposure

Three senior officials guiding the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic were in self-quarantine on Saturday after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for the disease, their agencies and spokesmen said. Anthony Fauci, a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus response team, is considered to be at relatively low risk based on the degree of his exposure, according to a representative for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. New York steps up coronavirus protections for nursing home residents

New York state on Sunday announced new coronavirus-safety measures to better protect nursing home residents, who are highly vulnerable to the respiratory illness and account for a large share of the nearly 80,000 Americans who have died from it. The effort to step up infection-prevention measures at New York's nursing homes and adult care facilities came as the state hardest hit by the pandemic has registered a downward trajectory in its daily overall COVID-19 death toll and hospitalizations. Pence says he would welcome Trump ex-adviser Flynn's return: Axios

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday said he would welcome Michael Flynn's return to the Trump administration after the U.S. Justice Department's controversial move last week to drop criminal charges against the president's former national security adviser. In an interview with online news site Axios, Pence was asked if he would like Flynn to return to work for President Donald Trump. "For my part, I'd be happy to see Michael Flynn again," Pence said, and defended the department's action. (https://bit.ly/2LdHp1u) No plans to separate Trump, Pence despite White House coronavirus cases: source

The Trump administration has no plans to keep President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence apart, a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday, as concerns rise about the spread of the coronavirus within the White House. The New York Times first reported the lack of plans to keep Trump and Pence separated despite concern they both could be incapacitated by the disease, citing two senior administration officials. In leaked call, Obama describes Trump handling of virus as chaotic

Former President Barack Obama described President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as "chaotic" in a conference call with former members of his administration, a source said on Saturday. Obama has largely kept out of the fray even as Trump has blamed him and his Democratic administration for a variety of problems related to having sufficient supplies to battle the pandemic that has killed more than 75,000 Americans. U.S. unemployment rate will get worse, Treasury's Mnuchin says

The staggering U.S. unemployment rate reported by the government on Friday amid coronavirus lockdowns may get even worse, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday. "The reported numbers are probably going to get worse before they get better," Mnuchin told the Fox News Sunday program. U.S. CDC reports 1,300,696 coronavirus cases, 78,771 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 1,300,696 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 26,660 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,737 to 78,771. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on May 9, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2YZZFUn) Trump may help offset states' coronavirus costs: Hassett

President Donald Trump may be open to further federal funding to help U.S. states recover funds spent battling the novel coronavirus, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday as Congress weighs another possible economic relief bill. "If we go to a Phase Four deal, I think that President Trump has signaled that while he doesn't want to bail out the states, he's willing to help cover some of the unexpected COVID expenses that might have come their way," he told CNN in an interview, referring to the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. As 2020 presidential contest looms, U.S. Supreme Court mulls power of 'electors'

Bret Chiafalo had his bags packed in the weeks following the 2016 U.S. presidential election. If somehow his gambit worked and Donald Trump were blocked from officially being declared the winner, the information technology specialist from Washington state figured all hell might break loose. Chiafalo, 41, served in the role of presidential elector - an individual who plays a pivotal role in the complicated Electoral College process set out in the U.S. Constitution to determine the winner of presidential elections. Chiafalo was one of 538 electors who cast their votes in the aftermath of the November election, ultimately designating the Republican Trump as the winner over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.