US Domestic News Roundup: NY attorney general urges end to Donald Trump's bid to thwart her probe; Most U.S. local governments opt to join $26 billion opioid settlement and more

The new majority has recently flexed its muscles by taking up major cases that could curb abortion rights, expand gun rights and bring an end to the consideration of race in university admissions. Biden says 14.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance since November President Joe Biden said on Thursday 14.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance since Nov. 1, attributing the progress to the passage of his pandemic relief package and the re-opening of an online health insurance marketplace last year.


Reuters | Updated: 27-01-2022 18:49 IST | Created: 27-01-2022 18:34 IST
US Domestic News Roundup: NY attorney general urges end to Donald Trump's bid to thwart her probe; Most U.S. local governments opt to join $26 billion opioid settlement and more
Letitia James Image Credit: Wikipedia

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

NY attorney general urges end to Donald Trump's bid to thwart her probe

New York State attorney general Letitia James on Wednesday urged the dismissal of Donald Trump's lawsuit seeking to stop her civil probe into him and his family business, where she claims to have found evidence of possible fraud. In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Albany, New York, James said legal matters in her nearly three-year probe into the former U.S. president and the Trump Organization were more appropriately and efficiently handled in ongoing proceedings in a state court in Manhattan.

Most U.S. local governments opt to join $26 billion opioid settlement

U.S. cities and counties have embraced a proposed settlement worth up to $26 billion resolving lawsuits alleging three large drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic, lawyers behind the deal said on Wednesday, increasing the odds that it will move forward. About 90% of local governments nationwide that were eligible to participate in the settlement with McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and J&J had opted to do so by a Wednesday deadline, said Peter Mougey, a plaintiffs' lawyer involved in the negotiations.

U.S. crop insurance payouts rise sharply as climate change worsens droughts, floods

Insurance payments to U.S. farmers for crops lost to droughts and flooding have risen more than threefold over the past 25 years, according to an analysis of federal data by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released on Thursday. The report reinforces concerns that insuring the nation’s crops will get more expensive for insurance companies, farmers and taxpayers as climate change drives more erratic weather events that disrupt agriculture.

San Jose votes to be first U.S. city to mandate gun liability insurance

Gun owners in San Jose, California, would be required to carry insurance coverage for their weapons and pay an annual "harm reduction" fee under a newly approved city ordinance believed to be the first of its kind in the United States. The measure, backed on an 8-3 vote on Tuesday night by the City Council for the state's third most populous municipality, brought an immediate court challenge from national gun rights advocates.

Judge blocks South Dakota rule that hinders medication abortions

A federal judge in South Dakota temporarily blocked on Wednesday a new rule by the state's health department that makes access to a medication abortion more difficult. Planned Parenthood sought the injunction against the South Dakota measure, which was first part of an executive order issued last September by Governor Kristi Noem, a Republican.

U.S. charges man with selling gun used in synagogue hostage crisis

The U.S. Justice Department has filed criminal charges against a man for allegedly selling the gun that another man later used to take hostages at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. Henry “Michael” Williams, 32, is charged in a complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He made his initial appearance before a federal judge on Wednesday, and the government is seeking to have him detained pending trial at a hearing on Jan. 31.

Analysis-Biden's next Supreme Court nominee not likely to change its rightward push

President Joe Biden can make history by appointing the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, but replacing one liberal with another won't change the aggressively conservative court's trajectory. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority bolstered by three appointments made by former Republican President Donald Trump. The new majority has recently flexed its muscles by taking up major cases that could curb abortion rights, expand gun rights and bring an end to the consideration of race in university admissions.

Biden says 14.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance since November

President Joe Biden said on Thursday 14.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance since Nov. 1, attributing the progress to the passage of his pandemic relief package and the re-opening of an online health insurance marketplace last year. The data includes more than 10 million who enrolled through a U.S government website HealthCare.gov during an open enrollment period, Biden said in a statement. He said the numbers were the "highest ever produced" during such an event.

U.S. Senate panel set to vote on FCC, FTC auto safety nominees on Feb 2

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote Feb. 2 on nominees to head the auto safety agency and to open seats on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) among other positions, according to a notice seen by Reuters. The panel is set to consider more than a dozen nominations including Steven Cliff to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since January 2017.

One body found, 38 still missing from capsized migrant boat off Florida

Rescue crews recovered one body but hopes dimmed for 38 other people lost at sea over the weekend from a capsized boat off Florida's coast in an incident being treated as an ill-fated human smuggling attempt, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday.

The search-and-recovery operation stretched through a second full day on Wednesday as the Coast Guard reported intercepting a separate sailing vessel off the Bahamas overloaded with 191 Haitian migrants believed to be headed for Florida.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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