Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will also receive an economic briefing from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, shortly after she takes part in the first meeting of the Group of Seven rich economies since the new U.S. administration took office. Dose shortages undermine push by U.S. states to speed COVID-19 vaccinations When the U.S. government began shipping COVID-19 vaccines in December, state health providers could not administer shots fast enough to keep pace with deliveries and millions of doses sat waiting for arms.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Biden to press for $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan with governors, mayors

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of mayors and governors on Friday as he continues to push for approval of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan to bolster economic growth and help millions of unemployed workers. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will also receive an economic briefing from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, shortly after she takes part in the first meeting of the Group of Seven rich economies since the new U.S. administration took office.

Dose shortages undermine push by U.S. states to speed COVID-19 vaccinations When the U.S. government began shipping COVID-19 vaccines in December, state health providers could not administer shots fast enough to keep pace with deliveries and millions of doses sat waiting for arms. Two months later, the situation has reversed. Supply constraints are slowing ambitious vaccination programs, as massive sites capable of putting shots into thousands of arms daily in states including New York, California, Florida and Texas, as well as hospitals and pharmacies, beg for more doses.

Trump's defense will make the case for his acquittal on inciting Capitol riot Donald Trump's defense lawyers will make their case on Friday why the former president is not guilty of inciting last month's deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, as the Senate races toward a final vote in his impeachment trial as soon as Saturday. Trump's lawyer David Schoen said the defense team would take "three to four hours" on Friday to lay out its arguments against convicting Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 riot, which sent lawmakers scrambling for safety and resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.

Biden moves to bring in asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexico under Trump program The U.S. government next week will begin to gradually process asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexico under a controversial program put in place by former President Donald Trump, officials said. The moves are part of a plan by the administration of President Joe Biden to end the program, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), an effort complicated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and concerns over illegal immigration.

Florida consumers 'flabbergasted' as property insurers push for double-digit rate hikes Florida property insurers are jacking up rates by double-digit percentages, blaming the hikes on lingering damage from past hurricanes, a wave of litigation, and a law that encourages lawyers to sue by allowing courts to award them big fees. The rate increases in Florida, the third-largest property insurance market among U.S. states, are the highest in memory, according to some insurance agents and residents. One danger, they say, is that the new rates could make owning a home in Florida unaffordable.

U.S. schools, pressured to reopen in pandemic, to get new CDC guidance The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will issue new COVID-19 guidelines for schools as the Biden administration seeks to fulfill its promise to send most students back to the classroom within its first 100 days. The top U.S. health safety agency was expected to provide guidance on several measures to mitigate the spread of the virus in the nation's 130,000 elementary and secondary schools, such as hand washing, masking, social distancing and cleaning, according to a person familiar with the matter.

U.S. continues plan to keep Central American migrants at bay ​In the days before U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration, Mexican soldiers patrolling the banks of the wide Suchiate River found few migrants amid the flow of trade across the water from Guatemala. The likely explanation lay hundreds of miles to the south, where baton-wielding Guatemalan security forces beat back one the largest U.S.-bound migrant caravans ever assembled, according to a Reuters photographer and other witnesses.

Amazon sues New York attorney general to preempt a state COVID lawsuit Amazon.com Inc on Friday sued New York's attorney general to stop the state from taking legal action over its early COVID-19 response, including its firing of activist Christian Smalls. The retailer drew scrutiny 10 months ago when workers protested conditions at a Staten Island warehouse and it fired Smalls for violating a paid quarantine. Senators questioned Amazon about the incident, the city announced a probe, and State Attorney General Letitia James said the company may have violated the law.

U.S. DoJ says man in North Carolina charged with threatening Biden The U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday that a man in North Carolina was charged with threatening President Joe Biden. A federal criminal complaint against David Kyle Reeves, 27, was unsealed in federal court on Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Andrew Murray said. https://bit.ly/3a9fT2p

Twitter suspends Project Veritas account over privacy violations Twitter Inc said on Thursday it suspended the account of conservative activist group Project Veritas for repeated violations of its private information policy, which prohibits sharing, or threatening to share others' private information without consent. The social media company also temporarily locked the account of the group's founder, James O'Keefe, for violating the same policy, a Twitter spokeswoman said in a statement.