Reuters US Domestic News Summary

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's democratic socialist candidates face a primary election test, potentially influencing the Democratic Party's direction ahead of the 2028 US Congressional and presidential elections.

Reuters US Domestic News Summary
Zohran Mamdani

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New York Mayor Mamdani endorsements test Democrats' appetite for far-left candidates

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's push to remake the Democratic Party into a democratic socialist powerhouse faces a primary election test on Tuesday. But win or lose, it is unlikely to provide an effective blueprint for Democrats taking control of the U.S. Congress in November or the White House in 2028. The mayor, who shocked the political world with his 2025 election, is backing a slate of fellow democratic ​socialist candidates running in Tuesday's New York primaries as they take on establishment Democrats, including one senior Latino in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Clive Davis, towering music executive who reshaped American sound, dies at 94

Clive Davis, a former corporate lawyer who became one of the most influential figures in American rock and pop music as he fostered the careers ​of Bob Dylan, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and other stars, has died at the age of 94, his family said on Monday. Davis, who was known as "the man with the golden ear" for his ability to identify potential ‌hit songs, died at his home in ​Manhattan, the New York Times said, having recently been hospitalized with respiratory problems.

Alan Greenspan, US Fed 'maestro' through years of boom and bust, dies at 100

Alan Greenspan, hailed as the greatest Federal Reserve chairman when he retired in 2006 but derided for a severe financial crisis that followed barely two years later, died on Monday aged 100, his wife said. Greenspan, who exerted a powerful influence on the U.S. economy during his tenure at the helm of the Fed from August 1987 to January 2006, died at his home from complications of Parkinson's Disease, Andrea Mitchell said in a statement.

US judge blocks Trump administration SNAP restrictions on soda, candy

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Monday blocked the Trump administration from preventing food stamp recipients in five states from using their benefits to buy sugary foods and drinks. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture lacked the authority under federal law to approve state requests to bar recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, from using benefits to buy sugary foods and drinks. She sided with five plaintiffs who argued the restrictions would undermine their access to food.

New York governor ‌announces completion of Smart Path Connect grid project

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday the completion of the 100-mile Smart Path Connect transmission project, a major grid upgrade expected to deliver over $438 million in annual savings to consumers. This energy pathway is the latest project to be completed as part of the largest investment in New York's electric grid in 50 years, the press release said, adding that it unlocks one gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy in Upstate New York.

Trump signs orders calling for powerful quantum computer, targeting 2028

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a push to build a powerful quantum computer for scientific research and speed efforts to protect government systems from related cyber threats, bolstering U.S. efforts in its race with China for a technology that could upend science and cybersecurity. "We believe this can happen by 2028," Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a call previewing the moves and referring to the quantum computer.

DOJ probes coffee shop chain in New York after it bars pro-Israel US lawmaker

The Justice Department said on Monday it opened a probe into a small coffee shop chain in New York City which posted online that it would have turned away pro-Israel U.S. Representative Dan Goldman had it recognized him during a weekend visit. "The Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation and will bring an enforcement action if warranted," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said on X.

Exclusive-Shopify to bar vapes as U.S. authorities crack down on illegal industry

Shopify Inc will ban all vapes from its platform as soon as this week following pressure from a group of U.S. state attorneys ‌general aiming to curb sales of illegal e-cigarettes online, according to two sources familiar with its plans. The Ottawa-based company provides the underlying infrastructure that lets millions of merchants operate and scale e-commerce channels. It has been in talks since last year with a bipartisan coalition of 25 state attorneys general, who have been pushing Shopify to do more to clamp down on a booming market for vapes that lack the legally required licence for U.S. sales, or violate other laws.

Trump allies defend him to Israelis anxious over Iran deal

American allies of President Donald Trump this week defended him to an Israeli public anxious about a U.S. interim deal with Iran and White House criticism that together appeared to signal fissures in Israel's decades-old ‌alliance with Washington. The U.S.-Israeli relationship has been on a roller coaster, from the early confidence they shared after their joint attack on Iran to public disagreements between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to end the four-month-old war.

US agencies probe near-miss between American, Delta jets at Boston airport

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday it is opening an investigation into a near-miss incident that happened on Saturday between two passenger jetliners at Boston Logan airport. The crew of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 on Saturday performed a go-around as an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 was departing from an intersecting runway, said the Federal Aviation Administration, which is also investigating.

Mamdani's power play, a Kennedy's TikToks. Four things to watch in Tuesday's primaries

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn't running for Congress, but he's the main character in a bid to remake New York's congressional delegation by backing three far-left candidates with ties to the Democratic Socialists of America to take on two mainstream Democratic incumbents, Adriano Espaillat in the Bronx and Dan Goldman in Brooklyn/Lower Manhattan, as well as an open seat in Queens. Those lawmakers backed other candidates in the mayor's race and are seen as insufficiently adversarial toward Israel in its war on Hamas, a passionate subject for the mayor.

US judge shuts down DOJ immigration probe into Walz, Minnesota officials

A U.S. judge found that the Trump administration unlawfully demanded information from several Minnesota officials at the height of its immigration crackdown in the state earlier this year, ruling that the Justice Department had abused the investigative process. The ruling by Minnesota-based U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed subpoenas to the office of the state's Democratic Governor Tim Walz and five other local and state offices, according to an order made public on Monday.

Washington's Reflecting Pool needs repairs weeks after renovation

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Washington's National Mall is set to be drained again for repairs after algae and peeling paint appeared just weeks after a $14.7 million renovation, while ⁠President Donald Trump threatened prison time for anyone ​caught damaging the pool. The DC Water authority issued a permit to drain the 2,000-foot-long (609-meter) rectangular pool, it said on Monday, while the repair company said it would fix the pool as part of its warranty.

Soccer-US forward ⁠Balogun relishes unusual journey to World Cup

Folarin Balogun said his unusual path to the United States team feels destined, as the Brooklyn-born forward prepares to help the Americans chase a first perfect World Cup group-stage campaign in Thursday's match against Turkey. Balogun was born in New York in 2001 after his mother Florence, then seven months pregnant, was prevented from boarding a flight back to London. Raised in England by Nigerian parents, he played for England at youth level before switching allegiance to the United States in 2023.

Explainer-What are the Fed's bank 'stress tests' and what's new this year?

The U.S. Federal Reserve is due to release the results of its annual bank health checks on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET (2000 GMT). Under the "stress test" exercise, the Fed tests big banks' balance sheets against a hypothetical scenario of a severe economic downturn, the elements of which change annually. Usually, the results are a big deal because they dictate how much capital those banks need to ⁠set aside to be healthy, and how much they can return to shareholders via share buybacks and dividends.

All US passengers from hantavirus-hit ship return to home states

The University of Nebraska Medical Center said on Monday all 18 U.S.-resident passengers from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship have returned to their home states after completing monitoring at its National Quarantine Unit. Sixteen of those passengers arrived on May 11 following their trip on the cruise ship associated with a hantavirus outbreak, it said. Two more former passengers arrived at the National Quarantine Unit on May 15.

US House committee reaches bipartisan deal on social media rules for youth

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders said in a statement on Monday they had reached a bipartisan agreement on legislation requiring social media platforms to provide safeguards and tools for children and parents, a key step in a years-long debate over how to protect children ​online. Chairman Brett Guthrie and top committee Democrat Frank Pallone declined to release more specific details about the agreement, but said it would "hold Big Tech accountable."

US Supreme Court restores conviction in 1979 Etan Patz missing-child case

The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated on Monday the 2017 murder conviction of a man in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City, one of the most notorious U.S. missing-child cases. The justices in a 6-3 ruling granted a request by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to overturn a lower court's decision that threw out a jury's verdict that former local delicatessen worker Pedro Hernandez kidnapped and murdered Patz.

Soccer-Local World Cup fans wave many flags in multicultural Houston

World Cup fever has ⁠a distinctly international flavour for residents in Houston, where an estimated third of the population was born outside the United States and some 145 languages are spoken in one of the country's most diverse cities. The fourth-largest U.S. city has dialled up full party mode for this year's tournament whether in the city's sprawling downtown fan festival or at packed bars and restaurants across town with supporters roaring their teams on.

US opens probe of fatal Tesla crash into Texas home

A U.S. agency said on Monday it was investigating the June 19 crash of a Tesla Model 3 that was reportedly using an advanced driver assistance system when it struck a home in Katy, Texas, killing a 76-year-old woman. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened nearly 50 special crash investigations since 2016 into incidents involving Teslas in which advanced driver assistance systems such as Autopilot were suspected of being used, with about two dozen deaths reported.

Greenspan playbook to get a replay under Warsh

Some of the late former U.S. Federal ⁠Reserve Chairman ​Alan Greenspan's most noted attributes as a central banker as well as what proved his greatest blind spot are about to get a replay under new Chairman Kevin Warsh. Like "the maestro" — who died on Monday and whom Warsh cited four times during his White House swearing-in ceremony exactly one month ago — Warsh is reluctant to say too much while trusting financial markets to figure things out on their own.

Trump to pay visit to closely divided Pennsylvania in return to campaigning

President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail for the first time in two weeks on Tuesday, visiting politically divided Pennsylvania to deliver a pitch about the revival of the U.S. Rust Belt to voters feeling inflation’s bite. Trump is due to visit a Mack Trucks assembly plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania, where he'll shift gears from Iran and pitch his jobs-and-reindustrialization agenda to factory workers who have formed the base of his "Make America Great Again" political movement.

US court dismisses Trump administration lawsuit over Los Angeles immigration policy

A California court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump's administration against Los Angeles over a city ordinance limiting its cooperation with federal immigration authorities. U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin rejected the administration's argument that the city's policy was unconstitutional. He gave the administration permission to file an amended complaint.

Senate passes housing bill in bid to ease supply crunch, high costs

The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan affordable housing bill on Monday as Congress attempts to finish work on it by the end of this week and clear the way for President Donald Trump to sign the legislation into law. The measure is designed ⁠to increase the availability of affordable single-family homes at a time when high consumer prices are voters' main worry ahead of November midterm elections. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for final passage.

Fed Chair Warsh to testify before lawmakers on July 14

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will deliver his first testimony on monetary policy before Congress on July 14, at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT), according to a hearing notice published by the House Financial Services Committee on Monday. The U.S. central bank chief is required by law to testify before Congress twice a year, in February and in July, and would typically be expected to appear at the Senate Banking Committee on July 15. A staffer for the Senate committee ⁠did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of that date.

Judge blocks Trump's use of revamped immigration database for voter checks

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from using a revamped version of an ⁠immigration database for checking the accuracy of state voter rolls, dealing a blow to U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to boost the role of the federal government in elections ahead of the midterm elections in November. Last year, the Department of Homeland Security revamped a system it uses to verify individuals' citizenship and immigration status to make it easier for state and local officials to use it to make sure voters were U.S. citizens.

ABC launches on-air campaign urging viewers to back network in Trump agency fights

Disney-owned ABC said on Monday it was launching an on-air campaign encouraging viewers to show support for the network in its two ongoing battles with the U.S. government. The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission ordered ABC in April to file early license reviews for its eight company-owned television stations after President Donald Trump pressured the regulatory agency to take action. The FCC is also investigating ABC daytime talk show "The View" after declaring it is subject to federal equal time rules for political candidates.

US FAA taps ASI for software overhaul to improve flight schedules, cut delays

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday that it has awarded an $875 million, 12-year contract to Air ‌Space Intelligence to overhaul U.S. flight scheduling to improve how flights are managed. The FAA will use a new system to ensure adequate capacity for air ‌traffic demand and provide data for the management of flights. The system will use data to prevent significant congestion and delays "by strategically coordinating schedules and trajectories before aircraft depart," the FAA added.

Trump CDC nominee Schwartz to resign posts, sell holdings if confirmed

Erica Schwartz, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she will resign from UnitedHealth and board roles, sell healthcare-related ​holdings and recuse herself from matters involving former employers and clients if confirmed, in a financial disclosure to the HHS Ethics counsel. Here are some details from the letter dated June 16:

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