Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Like many among the thousands of Afghans who were hurriedly evacuated by the U.S. military from Afghanistan last month, Fahima is now facing an uncertain future in the United States. Democrats will not raise debt limit in $3.5 trillion bill -Pelosi Democrats will not include a provision to raise the federal government's borrowing limit in a $3.5 trillion "reconciliation" spending measure they hope to pass this autumn, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Michigan demands ex-Trump campaign lawyer reimburse $22,000 in legal fees

Michigan on Wednesday demanded that lawyers who unsuccessfully sued to overturn former President Donald Trump's election defeat reimburse the state $22,000 for legal costs, and the City of Detroit was preparing a claim expected to be far higher. State election officials made the court filing to meet a deadline for state and local reimbursement claims under a ruling by U.S. District Judge Linda Parker.

L.A. prosecutors liken Robert Durst testimony to cockroach soup

Los Angeles County prosecutors on Wednesday likened Robert Durst's testimony in his murder trial to cockroach soup, displaying a photograph of a bowl full of bugs in court to suggest all his testimony should be discarded. Closing statements began in the trial of Durst, a multimillionaire real estate heir accused of killing his friend Susan Berman at her Beverly Hills home, where she was shot in the back of the head in 2000.

The grief born on 9/11 forever changed the lives of these widows

Cindy McGinty's grief was born on the morning of September 11, 2001, when two hijacked planes slammed into New York City's World Trade Center, killing her husband Mike McGinty. Mike was on the 99th floor of the North Tower when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into floors 93-99. "People often say to me, 'Well, it's been 20 years.' But it never leaves you, it never leaves you," she said from her home in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

U.S. House panel to vote on pre-school, child care and tuition-free community college

Publicly funded pre-school, child care subsidies and two years of tuition-free community college are on the agenda this week, when a U.S. House of Representatives panel votes on parts of a sweeping social spending plan backed by President Joe Biden. The president, a Democrat, campaigned on the proposals, pitching the pre-school and college schemes as adding an additional four free years to the U.S. public education system. The House Education and Labor Committee plans to debate and vote on the measures in a Zoom session on Thursday.

U.S. VP Harris rallies for California governor facing recall

Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned on Wednesday for embattled California Governor Gavin Newsom, part of a ramped-up effort to save his job from a Republican-led recall by bringing in some of the Democratic Party's biggest names. Harris, a longtime ally of Newsom, appeared with the governor in San Leandro, near her childhood home of Oakland. Harris previously served as a U.S. senator from California and state attorney general.

Florida 'cyber grave robbers' charged with condo collapse ID theft

A man and two women were arrested and charged with stealing the identities of seven victims of the Surfside condominium collapse near Miami Beach this summer and attempting to obtain credit cards in their names, a Florida prosecutor said on Wednesday. Betsy Alejandra Cacho-Medina, 30, Kimberly Michelle Johnson, 34, and Rodney Choute, 38, face multiple counts of identity theft and fraud, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at a news conference.

Some Afghans evacuated from Kabul struggle to find help in U.S.

After Fahima, 30, stepped off a plane at Dulles international airport in Virginia on Aug. 26th, she asked an immigration official what would happen to her next. He shrugged, she said, and told her to find a lawyer. Like many among the thousands of Afghans who were hurriedly evacuated by the U.S. military from Afghanistan last month, Fahima is now facing an uncertain future in the United States.

Democrats will not raise debt limit in $3.5 trillion bill -Pelosi

Democrats will not include a provision to raise the federal government's borrowing limit in a $3.5 trillion "reconciliation" spending measure they hope to pass this autumn, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday. Pelosi said the $28.5 trillion debt limit must be raised, but told a news conference she would not say whether this would be included in a must-pass bill to keep the government running, expected at the end of September.

Hunger rose for U.S. minorities, children in 2020, despite federal pandemic aid

The number of Hispanic and Black families without enough to eat climbed in 2020, the U.S. government said on Wednesday, as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered businesses and left millions of laid off Americans scrambling to put food on the table. Overall food insecurity in America was unchanged from 2019 at 10.5%, the lowest level since the Great Recession, however.

Colorado city to pay $3 million to elderly woman with dementia injured by police

The city of Loveland, Colorado, has agreed to pay $3 million to an elderly woman with dementia who suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken arm while being forcefully arrested for shoplifting last year, both sides said on Wednesday. The payment settles a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed by the family of Karen Garner, 75, against the city, and the two arresting officers. Both officers have resigned from the force and are facing criminal charges.