Reuters US Domestic News Summary

'America's Toughest Sheriff' faces tough race to win old job back Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Arizona's largest county who built a national reputation as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration and found a powerful ally in President Donald Trump, is seeking to win his old job in Tuesday's Republican primary.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Military helps worn-out nurses, sicker patients in California COVID-19 effort

All day long, as Air Force nurse Major Pinky Brewton cares for patients struggling to breathe in California's COVID-19 ravaged San Joaquin Valley, fears for her family simmer underneath her cool exterior. Once back in her Stockton hotel room, seeing her seven-year-old on Facetime, the relief is overwhelming. Special Report: Local governments 'overwhelmed' in race to trace U.S. COVID contacts

The soaring number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has far outstripped many local health departments’ ability to trace the contacts of those infected, a step critical in containing the virus’ spread. With the pandemic claiming about a thousand American lives a day, many city and county departments say they lack the money and staff to expeditiously identify people who have been exposed, according to a Reuters survey of 121 local agencies, as well as interviews with dozens of state and local officials, epidemiologists and tracers. Biden assails Trump for 'bald-faced lies' about voting by mail

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Monday that President Donald Trump was telling "bald-faced lies" about voting by mail to distract from his own failures, after Trump last week suggested it could be cause to delay the election. Biden's remarks were his strongest on the issue since Trump, who trails the presumptive Democratic nominee in opinion polls, tweeted on Thursday that he would not trust the results of an election that included widespread mail voting - a measure many observers see as critical during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. White House, U.S. Congress Democrats to continue effort on coronavirus aid

Top White House officials and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress will try again on Tuesday to narrow gaping differences over a fifth major coronavirus-aid bill to help stimulate the economy and possibly dispatch new aid to the unemployed. Several days of closed-door negotiations have so far yielded few results, according to the participants. Trump snubs civil right icon Lewis, cites absence at 2017 inauguration

President Donald Trump's personal grievances aired anew this week as he dismissed the legacy of the late U.S. Representative John Lewis after snubbing the civil rights icon and defended his decision not to pay his respects following Lewis' recent death. Lewis, who played an instrumental role in passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, was buried last week after an emotional service in Atlanta attended by three of the nation's four living past presidents. U.S. congressional primaries in five states feature polar political opposites

Kansas arch-conservative Kris Kobach and prominent Michigan progressive Rashida Tlaib - candidates from the outer edges of the Republican and Democratic parties - are on the ballot Tuesday when five U.S. states hold primary elections for Congress. The outcomes in Kansas, Michigan, Arizona, Missouri and Washington state will set the stage for Nov. 3 elections to the House of Representatives and Senate that will determine the balance of power in Washington. U.S. judge orders election boards to extend count of absentee ballots in New York state primary

A U.S. judge late on Monday ordered all local boards of election in New York state to count "thousands" of absentee ballots received the day after a congressional primary held last June 23 but previously disqualified because of postmark problems. According to the ruling by Judge Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan, the absentee ballots are to be counted "without regard to whether such ballots are postmarked by June 23." Carolyn Maloney, the Democratic Party incumbent, got 40.29% of votes previously counted, while challenger Suraj Patel received 38.43%. 'America's Toughest Sheriff' faces tough race to win old job back

Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Arizona's largest county who built a national reputation as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration and found a powerful ally in President Donald Trump, is seeking to win his old job in Tuesday's Republican primary. Arpaio, 88, who called himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” suffered a landslide defeat in his re-election bid in 2016. Two years later, he lost a race to fill the seat of Republican U.S. Senator John McCain. Trump vows to sue Nevada to block universal mail-in ballots

President Donald Trump vowed on Monday he would sue Nevada after the state's Democratic lawmakers passed a bill to send mail-in ballots to every voter ahead of November's presidential election in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, who has repeatedly claimed without evidence that voting by mail will lead to rampant fraud, wrote on Twitter the legislation approved on Sunday was an "illegal late night coup" and told reporters his administration was already preparing a lawsuit. Isaias weakens into a tropical storm: U.S. NHC

Isaias weakened into a tropical storm over eastern North Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday. Isaias, packing maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), is located about 35 miles (55 km) west southwest of Greenville, North Carolina, the Miami-based forecaster said.