Reuters US Domestic News Summary

As options dwindle, Trump allies ask court to halt Biden's win in Nevada U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign on Tuesday announced a lawsuit to halt President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Nevada, the latest in a flurry of challenges that legal experts have said will not change the election's outcome.

Medical experts advising President-elect Joe Biden on the COVID-19 pandemic fear that the federal government's delay in recognizing Biden’s election victory could be compromising the U.S. response to the virus, the experts said on Tuesday. Dr. Vivek Murthy, co-chair of Biden's COVID-19 task force, said the experts had not been able to speak to current administration officials dealing with the virus, even as the United States is hit by a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Facebook's Zuckerberg says Kenosha post did not violate 'call to arms' policy

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told U.S. senators on Tuesday that a page which posted a "call to arms" during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August had not violated the company's "call to arms" policy. "My understanding is that that post did not necessarily violate that call to arms policy at the time," said Zuckerberg, referring to the Kenosha Guard's calls for people to "take up arms" and defend the city from "evil thugs." FDA approves first COVID-19 test kit for home use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it had approved the first COVID-19 self-testing kit for home use that provides results within 30 minutes. The single-use test, made by Lucira Health, has been given emergency use authorization for home use with self-collected nasal swab samples in individuals aged 14 and older who are suspected of COVID-19 by their health care provider, the FDA said. U.S. medical leaders rebuke Trump, urge COVID-19 cooperation with Biden team

The U.S. medical establishment on Tuesday urged President Donald Trump to share critical COVID-19 data with President-elect Joe Biden's team to avoid needless, deadly lags in tackling a raging pandemic that is threatening to overwhelm hospitals nationwide. The extraordinary rebuke, weighing in on the White House post-election transition fray, came in an open letter from three leading healthcare organizations as state and local governments scrambled to fight the virus in the absence of a coordinated national strategy. In shock move, U.S. abandons drugs case against ex-Mexican defense minister

U.S. prosecutors will drop drug charges against ex-Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos and turn over the investigation to Mexico, saying "sensitive" foreign policy considerations outweighed the interest in pressing the case. The surprise decision to dismiss the charges in the politically explosive case was announced in a joint statement on Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Mexico's attorney general's office. U.S. judge skeptical of Trump bid to halt Biden win in Pennsylvania

A judge on Tuesday appeared skeptical of President Donald Trump's request to block officials from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Pennsylvania, underscoring the difficulties the Trump campaign has faced in challenging the outcome of the U.S. election. During a hearing, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, said halting certification would effectively disenfranchise all voters in the state. Biden turns to coronavirus as Trump fights to overturn election

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will meet with healthcare workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis in a virtual event on Wednesday, as outgoing President Donald Trump expands his campaign to overturn the election results. Trump has refused to concede the Nov. 3 election, blocking the smooth transition to a new administration. Biden has pledged to make the pandemic, which has killed more than 247,000 people in the United States and cost millions their jobs, a top priority when he takes office on Jan. 20. As options dwindle, Trump allies ask court to halt Biden's win in Nevada

U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign on Tuesday announced a lawsuit to halt President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Nevada, the latest in a flurry of challenges that legal experts have said will not change the election's outcome. According to a court filing released by the campaign, the lawsuit requests a court order that Trump "be declared the winner of the Election in Nevada," or, alternatively, that the results in the state are annulled and no winner is certified there. Trump fires top U.S. election cybersecurity official who defended vote

President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired top cybersecurity official Chris Krebs in a message on Twitter, accusing him without evidence of making a "highly inaccurate" statement affirming the Nov. 3 election was secure and rejecting claims of fraud. Trump has made debunked allegations that the election was "rigged" and has refused to concede defeat to President-elect Joe Biden. His campaign has filed a flurry of lawsuits in battleground states, although election officials in both parties have said they see no evidence of serious irregularities. Half of Republicans say Biden won because of a 'rigged' election: Reuters/Ipsos poll

About half of all Republicans believe President Donald Trump "rightfully won" the U.S. election but that it was stolen from him by widespread voter fraud that favored Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. The Nov. 13-17 opinion poll showed that Trump’s open defiance of Biden's victory in both the popular vote and Electoral College appears to be affecting the public’s confidence in American democracy, especially among Republicans.