Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Republicans have seized on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate, claiming Democratic President Joe Biden's recently enacted, sweeping tax, drugs and climate law would break his pledge not to increase taxes on middle-class Americans. From bomb shelter to dorm room: Ukrainian students find refuge at U.S. colleges Hlib Burtsev wanted to film himself opening admissions decisions from U.S. universities and share the videos online, imagining the hugs and cheers from his family if he got good news.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Utah ban on trans girls in school sports blocked amid legal challenge

A Utah judge on Friday blocked a state law banning transgender girls from participating in girls' school sports from being enforced while he considers a lawsuit by three transgender students challenging the law. Utah's state legislature passed the law earlier this year, arguing that it would help protect athletes and ensure women were not edged out of their sport.

Biden climate law could expand controversial biogas industry

U.S. President Joe Biden's climate law could help to expand a burgeoning but controversial industry that seeks to capture gases from rotting food and farm waste and convert them into fuel and other forms of energy. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Biden signed on Tuesday includes new tax credits for companies that build machinery, like anaerobic digesters, to capture climate-harming emissions including methane from landfills or animal manure lagoons and convert them into natural gas, electricity and heat. The biogas industry argues the technology is key to meeting the nation's climate goals.

U.S. wants airlines to boost help for stranded, delayed passengers

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has urged the 10 largest U.S. airlines to do more to help stranded and delayed passengers, calling the level of disruption travelers have faced this summer as "unacceptable." Buttigieg, who has faced pressure from U.S. lawmakers who want airlines to offer better service or face stiff fines, has clashed with major U.S. airlines over who is to blame for tens of thousands of flight delays and cancellations this summer.

U.S. CDC probing E.coli outbreak in four states as some Wendy's customers fall ill

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is probing an E.coli bacteria outbreak in four states from an unknown food source, with many of the affected reported to have had sandwiches at Wendy's Co. Of the 37 sick, 22 people were said to have consumed Wendy's sandwiches with romaine lettuce in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania in the week before they fell ill, the agency said on Friday.

Biden administration touts $1 trillion infrastructure bill

The White House is ramping up efforts to tout the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the effort to refurbish roads, bridges and airports and reduce emissions. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will go on a four-day, six-state tour starting Tuesday, visiting Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada and New Hampshire to talk up the infrastructure law.

Safety concerns loom as writers show public support for Rushdie

Under the watch of counterterrorism officers and police in tactical gear, hundreds of people gathered in front of the New York Public Library on Friday to show support for Salman Rushdie, the author stabbed multiple times at a literary event a week ago. Irish novelist Colum McCann, British writer Hari Kunzru and others read passages from Rushdie's works from the top of the flagship library branch's steps off Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Below, at a distance enforced by organizers, a crowd of about 400 people gathered to listen, breaking out into a chant of "Stand with Salman" when the event concluded.

U.S. asks judge to block book publisher merger as trial closes

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday urged a U.S. judge to block a $2.2 billion merger of two of the "Big Five" book publishers, saying "competition matters" and said the industry should not be treated differently from others. The Justice Department last year sued to stop Penguin Random House, the world's largest book publisher and owned by German media group Bertelsmann SE & Co KGaA, from buying rival Simon & Schuster from Paramount Global.

House panel seeks social media data on FBI threats made after Trump search

U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Friday asked social media platforms to turn over data regarding an increase in online threats aimed at law enforcement following a search of former President Donald Trump's Florida home and asked how they planned to respond. House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Stephen Lynch, Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, urged chief executives to act fast in letters addressed to eight internet companies, including Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc., Twitter Inc. and TikTok.

U.S. Treasury disputes finding that new IRS funding would increase middle-class taxes

As a political messaging war rages over $80 billion in new Internal Revenue Service funding, a U.S. Treasury official is pushing back on an informal estimate that the money could cause Americans earning less than $400,000 to pay as much as $20 billion more in taxes over a decade. Republicans have seized on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate, claiming Democratic President Joe Biden's recently enacted, sweeping tax, drugs and climate law would break his pledge not to increase taxes on middle-class Americans.

From bomb shelter to dorm room: Ukrainian students find refuge at U.S. colleges

Hlib Burtsev wanted to film himself opening admissions decisions from U.S. universities and share the videos online, imagining the hugs and cheers from his family if he got good news. But when those decisions came, the 18-year-old was often huddled in a windowless room or bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine. Air raid sirens and darkness frustrated his plans.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)