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The ELCA is a breakaway branch of the American Lutheran Church.

I'm in agreement in wishing these stupid news agencies would quit writing generic headlines like "U.S. Lutherans" and specify the denomination (in this case, ELCA). That said, I'd like to add one more clarification for the record: the ELCA was not a breakaway branch of the American Lutheran Church (ALC).

I was raised in an ALC congregation; to my knowledge, the old ALC formally ceased to exist as of January 1, 1988. Instead, the ELCA was the result of a merger of the ALC, LCA and AELC (see below). If I'm reading this correctly, it was the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) that had been formed by a group that had broken off from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). It's easy to get lost in this denominational alphabet soup, but here is a summary from Wikipedia:

"The ELCA formally came into existence on January 1, 1988, creating the largest Lutheran church body in the United States. The Church is a result of a merger between the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), The American Lutheran Church (ALC) and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), all of which had formally agreed in 1982 to unite after several years of discussions. The ELCA's three predecessor churches were themselves the product of previous mergers and splits among various independent Lutheran synods in the United States.

* The American Lutheran Church
In 1960 the American Lutheran Church, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church merged to form The American Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Free Church joined in 1963. The ALC brought approximately 2.25 million members into the ELCA.

* The Lutheran Church in America
In 1962 the United Lutheran Church in America, the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church formed the Lutheran Church in America. The LCA brought approximately 2.85 million members into the ELCA.

* The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
In 1976 the AELC was formed from congregations that left the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod over issues of biblical literacy, academic freedom and ecumenism. Its establishment was precipitated by the Seminex controversy at the LCMS's Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. The AELC brought approximately 100,000 members into the ELCA."