Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco by Kennedy and the American Values 2024 super PAC, which paid for the advertisement, a 30-minute video about Kennedy's life, says Meta censored the video by removing it and blocking users on its platforms from watching, sharing or posting a link to it. Collapsed Baltimore bridge blasted into pieces in effort to clear wreckage U.S. crews in Baltimore set off controlled explosions on Monday to allow them to remove a portion of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the bow of the massive container ship that toppled the span in March.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump again attacks New York prosecutor, floats economic plans at New Jersey rally

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attacked the Manhattan judge and prosecutor in his New York criminal trial, while hinting at a range of possible economic policies at a sizable rally in New Jersey on Saturday. Speaking before tens of thousands of supporters on a chilly beach on the Atlantic coastline, the former president disparaged District Attorney Alvin Bragg's appearance and dismissed the various state and federal charges he faces as a form of political persecution.

US Senator Robert Menendez goes on trial for corruption, no jurors chosen

Jury selection began in the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez on Monday, with a judge excusing dozens of prospective jurors in a case that could affect the Democrat's political future and the makeup of the U.S. Senate. Menendez, who is New Jersey's senior senator, faces 16 criminal charges including bribery, fraud, obstruction and acting as a foreign agent.

US overhauls electric grid to make way for more renewables

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday approved the first major electric transmission policy update in over a decade that aims to speed up new interregional lines to move more clean energy to meet growing demand amid the explosion of electric vehicles, data centers and artificial intelligence. Approved in a 2-1 vote, the new rule is also the first time the FERC has ever squarely addressed the need for long-term transmission planning, playing a key role in helping meet the Biden administration's goal of decarbonizing the economy by 2050 and making the grid more resilient to more frequent climate-fueled extreme weather events.

Major airlines sue Biden administration over fee disclosure rule

Major U.S. airlines are suing the U.S. Transportation Department over a new rule requiring upfront disclosure of airline fees, the latest clash between air carriers and the Biden administration. Lobbying group Airlines for America, along with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines, filed suit against the department (USDOT) in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana late on Friday, according to a copy of the suit seen by Reuters.

RFK Jr and super PAC sue Meta, claiming election interference

Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr and a super PAC supporting him filed a lawsuit on Monday against Facebook parent Meta Platforms, alleging the tech giant interfered in the election after it blocked a political advertisement. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco by Kennedy and the American Values 2024 super PAC, which paid for the advertisement, a 30-minute video about Kennedy's life, says Meta censored the video by removing it and blocking users on its platforms from watching, sharing or posting a link to it.

Collapsed Baltimore bridge blasted into pieces in effort to clear wreckage

U.S. crews in Baltimore set off controlled explosions on Monday to allow them to remove a portion of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the bow of the massive container ship that toppled the span in March. The detonations were meant to break the bridge's truss into small sections, enabling salvage crews to use cranes and barges to haul away the twisted metal wreckage, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. The work, originally planned for Sunday, was delayed because of weather conditions.

US auto workers union seeks tough victory at Mercedes plant in Alabama

Workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama began voting Monday on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, a significant test of whether the labor group can maintain momentum in the historically anti-union American South. A union victory at the plant, weeks after a resounding win at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee, would be a watershed moment for the UAW as it seeks to organize more than a dozen automakers across the nation and add to its dwindling ranks.

Abuses documented in FDIC sexual misconduct report unacceptable, Yellen says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday said abuses documented in a report on workplace problems at the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation were totally unacceptable and not in line with the Biden administration's core values. Yellen did not reply when asked after an event in Fredericksburg, Virginia if FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg should resign after an independent report by law firm Cleary Gottlieb cited accounts that he had engaged in bullying and verbal abuse.

Ex-fixer Michael Cohen testifies Trump signed off on hush money payment to porn star

Donald Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen told jurors on Monday that the Republican presidential candidate personally approved a hush money payment to bury a porn star's story of a sexual encounter before it could derail his 2016 campaign. "Just do it," Cohen said Trump told him, instructing him to figure out the best way of paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet about an alleged 2006 liaison, which he denies.

Michael Cohen, key witness in Trump trial, went from loyal fixer to archnemesis

Michael Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump, was poised on Monday to serve as a star prosecution witness in the former U.S. president's criminal trial on charges of covering up hush money paid to a porn star. Cohen was expected to take the stand on Day 16 of the trial in New York state court in Manhattan. His testimony marks the culmination of a 15-year arc from a lawyer and fixer for the businessman-turned-politician to an outspoken antagonist.