Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Deputy Postmaster Doug Tulino, in a letter dated Tuesday seen by Reuters, asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to delay by 120 days the deadline for USPS to comply with the agency's vaccine-or-testing mandate for large businesses, covering more than 80 million American workers. Seven children among 13 killed in Philadelphia apartment fire At least 13 people, including seven children, were killed in one of the worst fires seen in Philadelphia in years after smoke detectors failed to go off in a public-housing apartment building, the Philadelphia Fire Department said.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden to call out Trump's 'singular responsibility' for Jan. 6 attacks

President Joe Biden will tell Americans that his predecessor, Donald Trump carries "singular responsibility" for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol when he marks the first anniversary of the assault on Thursday, the White House said. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both Democrats, will speak on Thursday morning at the U.S. Capitol, one year after a mob loyal to Trump raided the complex https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democracy-under-siege-an-hour-by-hour-look-assault-us-capitol-2022-01-04 in a failed attempt to stop the certification of Electoral College votes that officially delivered Biden's election victory.

Top Senate Republican signals interest in narrow approach to U.S. election reform

As Democrats struggled to move forward on broad new voting rights legislation, the U.S. Senate's top Republican signaled interest on Wednesday in changing an 1887 law that allows members of Congress to dispute presidential election results. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the door to altering the Electoral Count Act, a day before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, in which supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the halls of Congress trying to overturn his election defeat.

U.S. doctors group calls out CDC for 'confusing' isolation guidance

The American Medical Association (AMA) on Wednesday criticized the government's guidelines on quarantine and isolation in the United States, saying the guidance was "confusing" and risked further spread of COVID-19. On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stopped short of recommending a rapid antigen test for people seeking to end their COVID-19 isolation at five days.

Fauci warns against complacency as Omicron strains U.S. hospitals

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warned on Wednesday against complacency about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, saying the sheer number of cases could strain hospitals despite signs of lower severity. The staggering pace of Omicron's spread has snarled life across the country, upending the restart of school after the holiday break, halting air travel, shuttering entertainment venues and throwing a monkey wrench into back-to-office plans.

CDC advisory panel in favor of Pfizer vaccine booster for ages 12 to 15

A panel of outside experts advising the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday voted to recommend booster shots of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine be made available to 12- to 15-year-olds. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13 to 1 to recommend that the U.S. health agency support booster shots for those aged 12 to 15 at least five months after their second dose.

Lawrence Brooks, oldest surviving U.S. veteran who served in World War Two, dies

Lawrence Brooks, the oldest surviving U.S. veteran who served in World War Two and was referred to by President Joe Biden as "truly the best of America", died on Wednesday at the age of 112. His death was announced by the National WWII Museum. The museum's statement did not mention the cause of the death.

U.S. Postal Service seeks relief from testing, vaccine rules

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has asked the Biden administration for temporary relief from new vaccine or testing requirements covering large businesses for its 650,000 employees, warning of potentially "catastrophic" impacts. Deputy Postmaster Doug Tulino, in a letter dated Tuesday seen by Reuters, asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to delay by 120 days the deadline for USPS to comply with the agency's vaccine-or-testing mandate for large businesses, covering more than 80 million American workers.

Seven children among 13 killed in Philadelphia apartment fire

At least 13 people, including seven children, were killed in one of the worst fires seen in Philadelphia in years after smoke detectors failed to go off in a public-housing apartment building, the Philadelphia Fire Department said. Firefighters arrived around 6:40 a.m. (1140 GMT) and fought for about 50 minutes to control the blaze on the second floor of the three-story row house in the city's Fairmount neighborhood. The building is owned by the federally funded Philadelphia Housing Authority, the fourth-largest housing authority in the United States.

Louisiana governor pardons plaintiff in landmark Supreme Court racial segregation case

Louisiana's governor on Wednesday posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in the landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine and laid the legal foundation for decades of racial segregation. Governor John Bel Edwards, who signed the pardon at a ceremony in New Orleans near the spot where Plessy was arrested in 1892 for riding a whites-only train car, traced a line from the historic case to racial inequities in U.S. society today.

Ghislaine Maxwell to seek new trial after juror's sexual abuse claim -lawyer

Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted last week of aiding Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuses, deserves a new trial, her lawyer said on Wednesday after a juror told media including Reuters that he had been a victim of sexual abuse. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, who presided over Maxwell's trial, the lawyer, Christian Everdell, said there were "incontrovertible grounds" for Maxwell to get a new trial, to serve the interest of justice.