Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Florida COVID-19 cases soar again, California sees surge stabilize The mayor of Chicago shut down indoor service at bars on Monday and Florida reported more than 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 for the sixth day in a row, as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the United States.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Florida COVID-19 cases soar again, California sees surge stabilize

The mayor of Chicago shut down indoor service at bars on Monday and Florida reported more than 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 for the sixth day in a row, as the coronavirus pandemic raged across the United States. The grim news was offset by an apparent stabilization of the outbreak in California and the fewest hospitalizations in four months in New York state, allowing New York City to enter a new phase of reopening. U.S. official on Portland protests: 'we will maintain our presence'

A top U.S. Homeland Security official on Monday defended the federal crackdown on protests in Portland, Oregon, including the use of unmarked cars and unidentified officers in camouflage and said the practice will spread to other cities as needed. Ken Cucinnelli, the acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deputy secretary, said authorities received intelligence about planned attacks on federal facilities in Portland around July 4 and backed up the Federal Protective Service responsible for protecting them with other DHS law enforcement components. Pelosi says Trump will be 'fumigated out' if he refuses to leave after White House loss

The top U.S. Democrat said on Monday that Donald Trump might not like the outcome of the Nov. 3 presidential election but reminded the Republican president that he will have to vacate the White House if he loses. "There is a process. It has nothing to do with if the certain occupant of the White House doesn't feel like moving and has to be fumigated out of there because the presidency is the presidency," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC. U.S. congressional Democrats, White House to meet on coronavirus aid

Advisers to President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats were set to discuss the next steps in responding to the coronavirus crisis on Tuesday, with congressional Republicans saying they were working on a $1 trillion relief bill. In a meeting on Monday at the White House, Republican lawmakers and administration officials said they were making progress toward fresh legislation aimed at cushioning the heavy economic toll of the pandemic. Washington says new COVID-19 data site is better than CDC program it replaced

U.S. officials defended a move to take collection of hospital data on COVID-19 cases away from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying a new data system launched on Monday is more expansive and robust. Senior Department Health and Human Services officials told a briefing that the new HHS program has data from 4,500 hospitals while the CDC system had data from 3,000 hospitals. The group said that the program uses the same methods that the CDC used to make the government's COVID-19 projections. Trump campaign runs Facebook ads on whether TikTok should be banned

U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign ran Facebook ads this weekend claiming that the Chinese-owned short video app TikTok is spying on users. The ads link to a survey asking whether TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, should be banned in the United States. They also ask for respondents' names and contact details. Anti-feminist lawyer is suspect in killing of judge's son: source

Roy Den Hollander, a self-described "anti-feminist lawyer," is the suspect in the Sunday shooting of the son and husband of a federal judge in New Jersey, a law enforcement source told Reuters. Hollander had a case before the judge, Esther Salas, in 2015, court records show. Georgia Democrats pick state senator to replace John Lewis on Nov. U.S. ballot

The Democratic Party in Georgia said on Monday it had chosen state senator Nikema Williams to be its nominee to run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat that is vacant following the death of civil rights icon John Lewis. Lewis, 80, died on Friday after being diagnosed late last year with pancreatic cancer. Teachers union sues to halt Florida classroom restart during pandemic

A Florida teachers union sued the state on Monday in an effort to halt next month's planned restart of classroom instruction, which it says poses an "imminent threat to the public health, safety and welfare" of its members, students and parents. Citing the state's position as a leading U.S. coronavirus hot spot, the Florida Education Association (FEA) argued in its lawsuit that in-class instruction violates the state constitution's guarantee of a "safe" education for children. House Democrats press U.S. Postal Service on plans to delay mail

Senior Democrats on a House Oversight Committee wrote to the new postmaster general on Monday to press him on reports the service was prepared to delay mail delivery if needed to cut costs, a move that could affect mail-in ballot results. The U.S. Postal Service's losses have soared even as it has become more critical to the U.S. economy as consumers, confined to their homes because of coronavirus, shop by mail. A determination to avoid crowds will also mean that voting by mail will be more popular this November.