US Domestic News Roundup: Horse racing-US horse racing authority seeks to vacate 'unconstitutional' ruling; Biden signs $1.66 trillion FY 2023 government funding bill and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Horse racing-US horse racing authority seeks to vacate 'unconstitutional' ruling

Lawyers will ask a federal appeals court to vacate its ruling that a law designed to make horse racing safer was unconstitutional after changes to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act were adopted on Thursday. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) was created by Congress in 2020 to replace the state-by-state patchwork of regulations with national rules following a series of high-profile doping scandals and horse deaths.

Biden signs $1.66 trillion FY 2023 government funding bill

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a $1.66 trillion bill funding the U.S. government for fiscal year 2023, the White House said in a statement. Biden signed the bill, which passed Congress last week, while vacationing on the Caribbean island of St. Croix.

Congressional report: U.S. FDA broke own protocols in approving Biogen Alzheimer's drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration failed to adhere to its own guidance and internal practices during the approval process for Biogen's Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, which was "rife with irregularities," a congressional report showed on Thursday.

The FDA's interactions with Biogen were "atypical" and did not follow the agency's documentation protocol, according to a staff report on the findings of an 18-month investigation conducted by two House of Representatives committees into the drug's regulatory review, approval, pricing, and marketing.

Special Report-Boy Scouts, Catholic dioceses find haven from sex abuse suits in bankruptcy

Lawmakers around the United States have tried to grant justice to victims of decades-old incidents of child sexual abuse by giving them extra time to file lawsuits. Now some of the defendants in these cases, including church and youth organizations, are finding a safe haven: America’s bankruptcy courts. In New York, nearly 11,000 cases flooded state courts, many seeking to hold Catholic dioceses responsible for sexual abuse by clergy, after a 2019 law suspended statutes of limitations that would have otherwise barred many of the lawsuits. In response, four New York dioceses that collectively faced more than 500 sexual-abuse claims filed for bankruptcy. That halted the cases — and blocked those from anyone who might sue later — and forced the plaintiffs to negotiate a one-time settlement for all abuse claims in bankruptcy court.

Southwest promises refunds as airline sees 'certain' financial impact

Southwest Airlines promised to reimburse passengers for expenses such as hotels and car rentals in addition to refunding tickets after it canceled thousands of flights due to a massive winter storm and said there would be a still-undetermined hit to its earnings. "There'll certainly be an impact to the fourth quarter," Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Green told reporters on a call on Thursday. "We're ... working through all the financial elements of this. We'll share that information when we have all that compiled and are ready to do that."

U.S. House committee set to release Trump's tax returns, capping years-long battle

A Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives committee was poised to release six years of former President Donald Trump's tax returns to the public on Friday in an extraordinary move days before Republicans take control of the chamber. Release of Trump's returns for 2015 to 2020 will cap a multi-year battle between the former Republican president and Democratic lawmakers.

Exclusive-U.S. considers airline wastewater testing as COVID surges in China

As COVID-19 infections surge in China, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering sampling wastewater taken from international aircraft to track any emerging new variants, the agency told Reuters. Such a policy would offer a better solution to tracking the virus and slowing its entry into the United States than new travel restrictions announced this week by the U.S. and other countries, which require mandatory negative COVID tests for travelers from China, three infectious disease experts told Reuters.

New York's first legal recreational marijuana shop opens

The first licensed marijuana store in New York opened on Thursday, more than a year after the state legalized the drug and during delays in setting up the legal market to benefit people previously arrested for marijuana crimes. The dispensary was opened in New York City's East Village by Housing Works, a non-profit organization that fights homelessness and AIDS. The non-profit was among the first 36 groups or individuals that the state awarded with a marijuana retail license last month.

White House lawyer snubs Republican request for documents for now

The White House on Thursday told Republicans hoping to investigate President Joe Biden that their requests for information for probes, including on the Afghanistan withdrawal, are improper until those lawmakers take over the House next month. Biden's special counsel, Richard Sauber, told two Republican lawmakers expected to hold top oversight posts in the next Congress that they lack authority now and would need to redo requests for materials they've already sent to the White House once they've taken control of Congress.

Running water again scarce in Jackson, Mississippi, after frigid weather

Residents of Mississippi's capital are ending the year unable to count on clean running water in their homes after a freezing winter storm brought a fresh crisis to Jackson's beleaguered water infrastructure. Residents of the majority-Black city say their main water treatment plant has been poorly maintained and funded for years. In August, its pumps failed entirely, overwhelmed by historic flooding along the Pearl River, cutting off running water entirely for Jackson's 150,000 residents and about 30,000 people in the surrounding area.