Reuters US Domestic News Summary

No injuries were reported and the Pelican Island Bridge remained standing after the barge, which Galveston County's Office of Emergency Management said was owned by Martin Petroleum, ran into it around 10 a.m. Foreign attempts to sway US elections dangerously high and rising, officials warn An increasing number of foreign actors, including non-state actors, are seeking to influence U.S. elections, and Russia, China and Iran, while the most significant, are far from alone, U.S. officials told a Senate committee on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden, Trump agree to debate on June 27 and Sept. 10

U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump on Wednesday agreed to face off in two debates on June 27 and Sept. 10, setting up the highest stakes moments yet of the race for the White House. "As you said: anywhere, any time, any place," Biden said on social media.

Biden administration, Texas duel in US appeals court over floating migrant barrier

The Biden administration on Wednesday urged a U.S. appeals court to rule that Texas cannot keep a 1,000-foot-long floating barrier in the Rio Grande, one in a series of measures taken by the Republican-led state to deter illegal border crossings. The full New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments for about an hour in an appeal by Texas of a judge's ruling that said the state needed the federal government's permission before installing the buoys last July.

US Senator Menendez's motives, knowledge in dispute as corruption trial starts

A federal prosecutor portrayed Democratic U.S. Senator Robert Menendez at the start of his corruption trial as a greedy politician willing to help foreign governments and disrupt local criminal probes in exchange for bribes, including gold bars. The prosecutor, Lara Pomerantz, told jurors on Wednesday that New Jersey's senior senator used his wife as a go-between, trying to help Egypt secure billions of dollars of U.S. military assistance, and aid the business and legal interests of two businessmen from his state linked to local criminal cases.

Biden's personal finances little changed in 2023, documents show

U.S. President Joe Biden disclosed a little-changed personal financial situation in 2023, though his book royalties fell, cash in his bank account decreased and the amount he owed on a home equity loan rose, federal documents showed. Biden and his wife Jill Biden reported total assets between roughly $1 million and $2.6 million and liabilities between roughly $350,000 and $850,000, according to an Office of Government Ethics form that lists ranges rather than precise figures.

Barge hits bridge in Texas, spills oil and shuts road

A barge crashed into a bridge on the Texas coast on Wednesday, forcing the closure of the only roadway to a small island off the city of Galveston, city officials said. No injuries were reported and the Pelican Island Bridge remained standing after the barge, which Galveston County's Office of Emergency Management said was owned by Martin Petroleum, ran into it around 10 a.m.

Foreign attempts to sway US elections dangerously high and rising, officials warn

An increasing number of foreign actors, including non-state actors, are seeking to influence U.S. elections, and Russia, China and Iran, while the most significant, are far from alone, U.S. officials told a Senate committee on Wednesday. "Specifically, Russia remains the most active foreign threat to our elections," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said. "The Russian government's goals in such influence operations tend to include eroding trust in U.S. democratic institutions, exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the United States, and degrading Western support to Ukraine."

US FDIC Chair Gruenberg vows culture fixes to skeptical lawmakers

U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Martin Gruenberg vowed to skeptical lawmakers Wednesday he would fix deep-seated cultural issues at his agency, as well as his own conduct. But lawmakers expressed doubt that the bank regulator -- who spent nearly two decades in leadership roles at the agency and was also the subject of some employee complaints about his temper -- was fit for the job.

US Supreme Court allows Louisiana voting map with two Black-majority districts

The U.S. Supreme Court restored a Louisiana electoral map that has two of the state's six congressional districts with Black-majority populations for use in the Nov. 5 election - a ruling on Wednesday with potential implications for which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives. The justices granted a request by state officials and a group of Black voters to temporarily halt a federal three-judge panel's decision throwing out Louisiana's newly redrawn map that includes two Black-majority U.S. House districts, rather than the one present in a previous version. Black voters tend to support Democratic candidates.

US charges two brothers with novel $25 million cryptocurrency heist

Two brothers who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were arrested on Wednesday on U.S. charges that they carried out a cutting-edge scheme to exploit the Ethereum blockchain's integrity and steal $25 million worth of cryptocurrency. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan called the scheme perpetrated by Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, "novel" and said the case marked the first time that such a fraud had ever been the subject of U.S. criminal charges.

US studying if other bridges at risk after Baltimore collapse

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is evaluating whether other bridges nationwide are at risk after a cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March, killing six people and destroying the Patapsco River crossing. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Peter Gautier said at a U.S. House hearing on Wednesday that the "size and complexity of ships has grown over the years, placing greater demands on our marine transportation infrastructure that may not have kept pace with the increased risks that these vessels pose."