Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US government shutdown stalls FBI investigations

FBI investigations have been slowed or stalled by the second-longest U.S. government shutdown in history, leaving the bureau without funds to pay informants or make undercover drug or gun buys, gaps that an FBI spokesperson said are putting national security at risk. The FBI does not provide detailed public information about how its $10.7 billion budget is spent and it is not clear how much of the total has been held up due to the shutdown, according to five current and three former FBI employees.

Trump's critical minerals adviser to meet companies in Sydney on Friday, sources say

U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser on critical minerals is set to meet officials of about 30 critical minerals companies in Sydney on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter said, as the U.S. and Australia step up cooperation to diversify supply. Joshua Kroon, deputy assistant secretary for critical minerals and metals at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, has been travelling in Australia despite the U.S. government shutdown. He was in Perth earlier this week, local media reported.

Trump again targets Fed's Powell on interest rate cuts

U.S. President Donald Trump complained on Wednesday about the Federal Reserve, once again taking aim at central bank chief Jerome Powell for perceived delays in cutting interest rates. "Jerome 'Too Late' Powell," Trump said in a speech in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, prompting laughter from an audience of corporate executives and leaders gathered for the CEO Summit of the APEC grouping.

US health chief says there is not enough data to show Tylenol causes autism

Donald Trump's top health official on Wednesday said evidence does not show that Kenvue's pain medicine Tylenol definitively causes autism but that it should still be used cautiously, a month after the president said U.S. health officials would recommend limiting its use. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s comments also come one day after the Republican state of Texas sued the maker of the medicine, also known as acetaminophen and which has been sold widely for decades.

Factbox-Legal battles mount over Trump’s National Guard deployments to U.S. cities

In a rare use of the U.S. military for domestic purposes, President Donald Trump has deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and announced plans to send them to Portland, Chicago and other cities in response to protests over his immigration policies. Democratic-led states and cities have filed lawsuits to block the deployments, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected ultimately to decide whether Trump’s actions are lawful. Here is the status of those cases.

Fed lowers rates, but Powell suggests move may be the last of 2025

A policy divide within the U.S. central bank and a lack of federal government data may put another interest rate cut out of reach this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, as he acknowledged the threats that officials see to the job market but also the risky nature of making further rate moves without a fuller picture of the economy. The Fed on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, as a way to temper any further weakening of the job market. But the central bank's new policy statement included several references to the lack of official data during a federal government shutdown, and Powell told reporters later that policymakers are likely to become more cautious if it deprives them of further job and inflation reports.

US appeals court pauses order requiring top border official to appear daily before judge

A top U.S. border official won’t have to appear before a judge in Chicago on Wednesday after a U.S. appeals court paused her order directing him to come to court every weekday to answer questions about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city. Just hours before U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino was slated to appear in U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis’ courtroom Wednesday evening, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted Ellis’ order. Government attorneys had argued the directive interferes with Bovino’s work enforcing federal immigration law.

Key US mortgage rate drops to 13-month low, industry group says

The interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan dropped last week to a 13-month low after a key reading of inflation came in lower than expected, cementing expectations for another Federal Reserve interest-rate cut. The Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday the contract rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dropped 7 basis points to 6.30% in the week ended October 24, the lowest since late September 2024. With the latest drop, mortgage rates have fallen more than three-quarters of a percentage point since mid-January.

Exclusive-FBI searched California real estate firm linked to bad bank loans

The FBI last month searched the offices of a California real estate investment firm Continuum Analytics, which is linked to bad loans recently disclosed by Zions and Western Alliance, according to legal correspondence seen by Reuters. Continuum Analytics is an affiliate of the little-known Cantor Group funds which Zions and Western Alliance have said defaulted on about $160 million in loans, spooking markets already on alert for signs corporate credit is weakening.