Reuters US Domestic News Summary

And Trump himself - who in recent months has ousted a raft of inspectors general, prosecutors and other officials - signaled that he’ll keep Miller on a tight leash, forbidding him from reporting to Congress without “presidential supervision.” Young Americans turn out to protest.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. House on verge of approving Washington, D.C., statehood

Four decades after launching its drive for U.S. statehood, Washington, D.C. was poised to take a step toward becoming the 51st state as the House of Representatives on Friday was expected to approve its admission. Though the initiative was likely to pass handily in the House, where Democrats hold the majority, Republicans for years have actively opposed creating a state that they predict would elect Democrats to Congress. U.S. sets one-day record for COVID-19 cases, Texas pauses reopening

The governor of Texas temporarily halted the state's reopening on Thursday as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations surged and the country set a new record for a one-day increase in cases. Texas, which has been at the forefront of efforts to reopen devastated economies shut down in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, has seen one of the biggest jumps in new cases, reporting more than 6,000 in a single day on Monday. U.S. movie theaters prepare to switch the lights back on, but hurdles remain

When the 60-person Arena Cinelounge in Los Angeles opens again for the first time in months, more than a dozen seats will be filled by cardboard cutouts of James Dean, Charlie Chaplin and other Hollywood icons. The seating arrangement, designed to encourage social distancing among the 15 real-life patrons who will be allowed into each screening, is one of the new safety measures theaters are putting in place to reduce the chance of coronavirus spread. Colorado governor orders probe of death of Black man after police encounter

Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Thursday appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the 2019 death of an unarmed Black man who died days after he was subdued by three policemen and injected with a powerful sedative. Polis said the state's attorney general, Phil Weiser, will probe the death of Elijah McClain, who died following an encounter with police who applied a carotid neckhold on him. During the incident, paramedics injected him with ketamine and he lapsed into a coma from which he never recovered. Trump administration asks Supreme Court to axe Obamacare amid pandemic

President Donald Trump's administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the Obamacare law introduced by his predecessor that added millions to the healthcare safety net, seeking to scrap coverage during the novel coronavirus crisis. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, in a filing late on Thursday, argued for the administration that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - one of former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature achievements - became invalid after the previous, Republican-led Congress axed parts of it. Car crashes deadlier as drivers speed during lockdowns

Coronavirus lockdowns led to huge reductions in traffic and fewer car crashes this spring, but as drivers sped up on quieter roads, the collisions became deadlier in several cities, a Reuters analysis shows. In New York City, the ratio of fatal crashes to all collisions rose 167% in April from a year ago. The increase was 292% in Chicago and 65% in Boston. Across the ocean, in Madrid, Spain, the rate of fatal collisions was 470% higher. U.S. public more aware of racial inequality but still rejects reparations: Reuters/Ipsos polling

Americans are growing increasingly aware of racial inequality in the United States, but a large majority still oppose the use of one-time payments, known as reparations, to tackle the persistent wealth gap between Black and white citizens. According to Reuters/Ipsos polls this month, only one in five respondents agreed the United States should use "taxpayer money to pay damages to descendants of enslaved people in the United States." Fired Miami police officer charged for putting knee on Black woman's neck

A former Miami police officer was charged on Thursday with battery and misconduct after a video surfaced showing him pressing his knee on a Black woman's neck and tasing her stomach, while she kept screaming, U.S. media reports said. Jordi Martel, 30, was charged with official misconduct for filing two reports with false details about the incident that took place outside a striptease club on Jan. 14, State Attorney Katherine Rundle told a press conference. Pandemic aid watchdog steps into partisan war over bailouts

Brian Miller would have one of the toughest jobs in Washington even without the cutthroat politics all around him. As America’s inspector general for pandemic relief, he’s charged with rooting out fraud in the spending of trillions of dollars in emergency aid. But before even starting work, he was blasted by Democratic lawmakers who say he’ll be more of a lapdog than watchdog, citing his recent history as a lawyer in Donald Trump’s White House. And Trump himself - who in recent months has ousted a raft of inspectors general, prosecutors and other officials - signaled that he’ll keep Miller on a tight leash, forbidding him from reporting to Congress without “presidential supervision.” Young Americans turn out to protest. Democrats hope they will vote, too

Quintez Brown took to the streets in Kentucky to join many Americans in protesting against racial injustice after the death of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody last month. The 19-year-old student at the University of Louisville, who is Black, also texted voters in support of Charles Booker, a Black Democratic state lawmaker running for the U.S. Senate.