Reuters US Domestic News Summary

U.S. Supreme Court takes up Trump bid to revive Medicaid work requirements The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a bid by President Donald Trump's administration to revive pilot programs adopted by the states of Arkansas and New Hampshire that allow work requirements to be imposed on people who receive healthcare under the Medicaid program for the poor.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Metallic monolith pops up outside Pittsburgh candy store

Since mid-November, shining metal monoliths have suddenly appeared - and then vanished - in the strangest locations, from the Utah desert to a Romanian mountainside. Now one has popped up outside a Pittsburgh candy store. Trump campaign says it has filed election lawsuit in Georgia state court

The campaign of President Donald Trump says it has filed a lawsuit in Georgia state court seeking to invalidate the presidential election results there - the latest in a series of legal challenges intended to reverse his loss to President-elect Joe Biden. In a statement, the Trump administration has said that the lawsuit would include sworn statements from Georgia residents alleging fraud. Trump to withdraw most troops from Somalia as part of global pullback

President Donald Trump has ordered nearly all American troops to withdraw from Somalia, U.S. officials said on Friday, part of a global pullback by the Republican president before he leaves office next month that will also see him drawdown forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States has about 700 troops in Somalia focused on helping local forces defeat the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgency. The mission has received little attention in the United States, but has been considered a cornerstone of the Pentagon's global efforts to combat al Qaeda. San Francisco mayor announces stay-at-home order, business restrictions

The mayor of San Francisco on Friday said she and political leaders across the Bay Area were imposing new lockdown orders and business restrictions in the face of a surge in COVID-19 infections. Mayor London Breed, a first-term Democrat, said she was unwilling to wait for a statewide clamp-down announced by California Governor Gavin Newsom, set to be triggered region-by-region based on hospital intensive-care unit admissions. U.S. Supreme Court takes up Trump bid to revive Medicaid work requirements

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a bid by President Donald Trump's administration to revive pilot programs adopted by the states of Arkansas and New Hampshire that allow work requirements to be imposed on people who receive healthcare under the Medicaid program for the poor. The justices took up the administration's appeals of rulings by a lower court that found the work requirement programs to be unlawful. The case potentially could become moot once Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Seventeen other states are pursuing similar policies. Biden plans scaled-back inauguration to avoid spreading coronavirus in crowds

Setting a sharp contrast with President Donald Trump, whose administration began with a fight over the size of his inaugural crowds, President-elect Joe Biden said on Friday he plans a scaled-back event for safety's sake during the pandemic. The Democratic former vice president said he does expect to be sworn in on Jan. 20 on the platform already being constructed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, but wanted to avoid the crowds that typically gather on the National Mall and along Pennsylvania Avenue to view the ceremony and parade.

Record U.S. deaths prompt urgent calls for masking, stay-at-home orders U.S. leaders urgently called on Americans to wear masks and threatened even more drastic stay-at-home orders after deaths from the coronavirus set a single-day record, with two people dying every minute. More than 213,830 new cases and 2,861 deaths were reported on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally of official data, with several experts projecting the death toll will soon surpass 3,000 per day.

Firefighters move in on Southern California canyon blaze, aided by easing winds Firefighters battling a blaze in a Southern California canyon made some progress toward containment but were up against more high winds and low humidity on Friday, which threatened to stoke the flames that forced thousands to evacuate. The Bond Fire, which was about 10% contained on Friday afternoon, broke out around on Wednesday night on the road for which it is named and quickly engulfed much of Silverado Canyon, egged on by strong Santa Ana winds.

U.S. House votes to decriminalize marijuana at federal level The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, but the legislation is not expected to advance further as long as the Senate remains in Republican hands. It was the first time either chamber of Congress has voted to end the federal ban on marijuana since the drug was listed as a "controlled substance" in 1970.

Biden notes 'grim' jobs report, urges broad action on coronavirus aid President-elect Joe Biden said Friday's "grim" jobs report shows the economic recovery is stalling, and urged the U.S. Congress to pass a coronavirus relief bill immediately and follow up with "hundreds of billions of dollars" in more aid in January. "If we don't act now, the future will be very bleak. Americans need help and they need it now. And they need more to come early next year," said Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20.