Reuters US Domestic News Summary

States sue Trump over order to exclude undocumented immigrants from U.S. House seat counts A coalition of 35 U.S. states, cities and counties sued President Donald Trump on Friday over his directive not to count undocumented immigrants when apportioning seats for the House of Representatives, a move that critics have said is designed to help Republicans.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Cuomo accuses U.S. immigration chiefs of breaching oath in travel lawsuit

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state may seek damages after the Trump administration admitted making false statements in a U.S. lawsuit over New Yorkers being barred from a program that allows the use of expedited lanes at U.S. airports. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan admitted late Thursday it had made inaccurate statements in a lawsuit brought by New York state over the Trusted Traveler program. It said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would immediately lift the ban. Anti-communist protesters heckle staff emptying China's consulate in Houston

Chinese staff departed China's Houston consulate to a jeering crowd on Friday after the U.S. government ordered the building closed, calling it a hub for spying on American companies and researchers. About 100 protesters shouted "take back China," denounced the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and waved flags as consulate workers loaded belongings into rental trunks. 'Spread out? Where?' Smithfield says not all plant workers can be socially distanced

Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork processor, said workers cannot be socially distant in all areas of its plants, in response to U.S. senators who pressed meatpackers on coronavirus outbreaks in slaughterhouses. Meatpackers are under mounting pressure to protect workers after more than 16,000 employees in 23 states were infected with COVID-19 and 86 workers died in circumstances related to the respiratory disease, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Trump signs orders to lower prescription drug prices

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed four executive orders aimed at lowering the prices Americans pay for prescription drugs, as he faces an uphill re-election battle and criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has previously proposed most of the changes made by the executive orders he signed on Friday, but this is the first time they have made it into signed executive orders. Houston consulate one of worst offenders in Chinese espionage, say U.S. officials

China's Houston consulate, which is due to be closed on Friday, has been one of the worst offenders in terms of Chinese espionage in the United States and its actions went well over the line of what was acceptable, senior U.S. officials said on Friday. The United States ordered the consulate closed this week, leading China to retaliate on Friday by telling Washington to shut its consulate in the city of Chengdu, as relations between the world's two largest economies deteriorate. States sue Trump over order to exclude undocumented immigrants from U.S. House seat counts

A coalition of 35 U.S. states, cities and counties sued President Donald Trump on Friday over his directive not to count undocumented immigrants when apportioning seats for the House of Representatives, a move that critics have said is designed to help Republicans. Trump's plan, announced on Tuesday, could exclude several million people when determining how to apportion the 435 House seats, starting with the 2022 midterm elections. It could cause a few House seats to shift from Democratic-leaning states with large immigrant populations to Republican-leaning states. Chicago takes down statues of Columbus, plans review of all monuments

Chicago temporarily removed two statues of Christopher Columbus on Friday and announced it would reassess the appropriateness of all its monuments, a week after protesters had tried to topple one of the statues, leading to a violent clash with police. "This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city's symbols," Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office said in a statement. The wealthy Republicans who want to oust Trump in November's election

Jimmy Tosh, who runs a multi-million dollar hog and grain farm in Tennessee, is a lifelong Republican. He is pro-gun, supports lower taxes and agrees with most of Republican President Donald Trump's agenda. He is also spending his money to help defeat Trump in November's election. White House: children should go back to school even if studies show they spread coronavirus

Children still should go back to school even if it turns out that they are transmitting the deadly novel coronavirus that has claimed more than 140,000 U.S. lives, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday. President Donald Trump is pushing to re-open U.S. schools, which abruptly shuttered this past spring when the coronavirus first began spreading across the country - despite teachers' and families' concerns that children could contract or transmit the disease should they return to classrooms. U.S. counterspy gives rare warning on foreign meddling in U.S. election

Voters should be on high alert for foreign interference in the Nov. 3 U.S. election, the U.S. counterintelligence agency chief said on Friday in a rare warning that the public should screen information, check online sources and report suspicious actions. William Evanina, chief of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), said that with just over 100 days to the election, it was "imperative" his agency share with voters some of the information about possible interference that U.S. spies have given to campaigns and legislators.