Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Republicans, whose party control the House of Representatives, have proposed increasing work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, as part of a spending deal. U.S. Supreme Court to hear dispute over Democratic bid for Trump hotel documents The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to block a lawsuit by several congressional Democrats seeking details of a government lease for a Washington hotel concerning when it was owned by his predecessor Donald Trump.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Food aid cuts still 'red line' in debt ceiling talks, says Senate farm committee chair

Expanding work requirements for the largest U.S. food assistance program is still a "red line" in negotiations over raising the country's debt ceiling to avert a looming default, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow said Monday in an interview with Reuters. Republicans, whose party control the House of Representatives, have proposed increasing work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, as part of a spending deal.

U.S. Supreme Court to hear dispute over Democratic bid for Trump hotel documents

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to block a lawsuit by several congressional Democrats seeking details of a government lease for a Washington hotel concerning when it was owned by his predecessor Donald Trump. The justices took up an appeal by the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal government real estate, of a lower court's ruling allowing the lawsuit by U.S. House of Representatives Democrats to proceed. The lawmakers sued after the agency declined to provide details of a 2013 lease of the Old Post Office building to the Republican former president's company to convert it into a hotel.

US Supreme Court takes up bid to revive South Carolina voting map deemed racially biased

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a bid by South Carolina officials to revive a Republican-crafted voting map that a lower court said had unconstitutionally "exiled" 30,000 Black voters from a closely contested congressional district. The justices took up an appeal by South Carolina officials of a federal judicial panel's ruling that found the Republican-drawn map had deliberately split up Black neighborhoods in Charleston County in a "stark racial gerrymander" and ordered the district to be redrawn.

Rudy Giuliani sued for $10 million by former aide over alleged sexual assault

A former associate of Rudy Giuliani is suing him for sexual assault, accusing Donald Trump's former personal lawyer of hiring her to fulfill his desire for a sexual relationship. In a civil complaint filed on Monday and seeking at least $10 million, Noelle Dunphy said Giuliani began abusing her almost immediately after hiring her as an off-the-books employee in January 2019.

DeSantis defunds diversity programs at Florida public colleges

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday banning tax dollars from being used in state colleges for diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI) in a sweeping measure that also places restrictions on classroom discussion of race. While DEI programs are meant to assist in building racial, social and religious diversity among university faculty and students, the governor and other conservative critics have said they promote left-wing politics and sow racial divisions on campuses.

Biden picks cancer surgeon Monica Bertagnolli to head NIH

The Biden administration on Monday said it intends to nominate cancer surgeon Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH) following a 16-month search for a permanent successor to the agency's long-serving director Dr. Francis Collins, who stepped down in December 2021. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Bertagnolli will become the second woman to lead the NIH, the largest biomedical research agency in the world with a budget of $45 billion in 2022. NIH falls under the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

U.S. warns against crossing Mexico border illegally as Title 42 ends

U.S. officials on Monday said there will be "tougher consequences" for migrants illegally crossing the southern border as U.S. President Joe Biden transitions away from COVID restrictions known as Title 42 that allowed agents to quickly expel many migrants to Mexico over the past three years. The number of people caught crossing the border illegally since Title 42 ended on Friday dropped sharply from highs last week, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Blas Nunez-Neto said on a call with reporters.

US special counsel faults FBI's handling of 2016 Trump-Russia probe

The FBI lacked "actual evidence" to investigate Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and relied too heavily on tips provided by Trump's political opponents to fuel the probe, U.S. Special Counsel John Durham concluded in a report released on Monday. The report marks the end of a four-year probe launched in May 2019 when then-Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham, a veteran prosecutor, to probe potential missteps by the FBI when it launched its early stage "Crossfire Hurricane" inquiry into potential contacts between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

Teen gunman kills three in New Mexico before police shoot him dead

An 18-year-old gunman shot three people to death and wounded several others, including two police officers, in a northwest New Mexico town on Monday before police shot him dead outside a church a short time later, police said. The shooting unfolded in a residential area of Farmington, New Mexico, about 180 miles (290 km) northwest of Albuquerque, but few additional details from authorities were immediately available.

Biden, House Republicans prepare for critical US debt-ceiling talks

President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday prepared for critical debt-ceiling talks, with a little more than two weeks to go before the U.S. government could run short of money to pay its bills. Democratic and Republican staff were working to find common ground on spending levels and energy regulations before a 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) Tuesday meeting between Biden, McCarthy and the three other top congressional leaders.