Reuters US Domestic News Summary

In a report issued alongside its annual budget outlook, the non-partisan CBO cautioned that a historic federal debt default could occur before July if revenue flowing into the Treasury in April - when most Americans typically submit annual income tax filings - lags expectations. Judge rejects Trump's late offer to provide DNA in rape accuser Carroll's lawsuit A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's offer to provide a DNA sample as part of a defamation lawsuit filed against him by E.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. could face debt-ceiling crisis this summer without deal, CBO warns

The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday said the U.S. Treasury Department will exhaust its ability to pay all its bills sometime between July and September, unless the current $31.4 trillion cap on borrowing is raised or suspended. In a report issued alongside its annual budget outlook, the non-partisan CBO cautioned that a historic federal debt default could occur before July if revenue flowing into the Treasury in April - when most Americans typically submit annual income tax filings - lags expectations.

Judge rejects Trump's late offer to provide DNA in rape accuser Carroll's lawsuit

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's offer to provide a DNA sample as part of a defamation lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll, a writer who said the former U.S. president raped her in the mid-1990s. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said Trump's sudden willingness after years of resistance to provide a sample, but only in exchange for pages missing from a DNA lab report he obtained from Carroll in January 2020, came too late.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz says he will not face federal sex trafficking charge

U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz's office on Wednesday said federal prosecutors had told his attorneys that he would not be criminally charged following an almost three-year-long sex-trafficking investigation. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.

Most Americans think college admissions should not consider race -Reuters/Ipsos poll

Sixty-two percent of Americans say race and ethnicity should not be considered at all in college admissions, according to new Reuters/Ipsos polling on policies at the center of high-profile cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. The public opinion poll, which surveyed 4,408 adults from Feb. 6-13, found that 73% of Republicans and 46% of Democrats said they were against race-conscious admissions, or affirmative action, which is a practice used by colleges and universities to boost racial diversity within their student bodies.

Biden takes aim at Republican spending cuts plan

President Joe Biden, armed with a new team of economic advisers, took aim on Wednesday at Republican plans to cut U.S. spending as his administration gears up for a huge fight to preserve the outlays he credits with fueling an American recovery. At issue is Republicans' refusal to raise the statutory $31.4 trillion U.S. debt limit unless Biden agrees to spending cuts. The White House has said such measures will only be discussed after the debt ceiling is lifted.

Buffalo mass shooting gunman apologizes, sentenced to life without parole

An avowed white supremacist on Wednesday apologized to the families of the 10 Black people he fatally shot last year at a western New York grocery store before being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole during a chaotic and emotional hearing. At one point, a man in the courtroom lunged at Payton Gendron, who had pleaded guilty to 15 state charges including murder and terrorism motivated by hate stemming from the May 14 mass shooting in Buffalo, a city of about 277,000 people. Thirteen relatives of victims spoke during the hearing including Simone Crawley, who called Gendron, 19, a "cowardly racist."

New York Senate rejects Governor Hochul's pick for top state judge

New York's state Senate on Wednesday rejected Governor Kathy Hochul's choice to become the state's highest-ranking judge, a defeat for the state's top Democrat who failed to overcome opposition from her own party to the nomination. Hochul's choice, Hector LaSalle, is the presiding justice of a midlevel state appeals court in Brooklyn, and would have been the first Hispanic chief judge of the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.

U.S. senators question rail oversight after toxic Ohio derailment

Two Republican senators sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday questioning U.S. freight rail system oversight in the aftermath of a toxic train derailment in Ohio on Feb. 3. The derailment of a Norfolk Southern operated train caused a fire that sent a cloud of smoke over the town of East Palestine, Ohio, and forced thousands of residents to evacuate while railroad crews drained and burned off toxic chemicals. There were no reported fatalities or injuries.

Downed Chinese balloon aimed for Hawaii but was blown off course -U.S. official

U.S. officials believe a Chinese balloon that was shot down after crossing the continental United States originally had a trajectory that would have taken it over Guam and Hawaii but was blown off course by prevailing winds, a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday. The balloon, which Washington accuses Beijing of using for surveillance and China says was a civilian research vessel, drifted across Alaska's Aleutian Islands, then Canada and the central United States before it was shot down by the U.S. military off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.

Nikki Haley swipes at 'faded names' in bid for Republican 2024 nomination

Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley called on Republicans to move on from "stale ideas" and "faded names," a veiled swipe at her former boss Donald Trump, as she made her first stop on Wednesday in a campaign for the 2024 presidential nomination. The former South Carolina governor is just the second Republican to seek the party's backing to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, 80, who is expected to seek reelection next year.

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