US Domestic News Roundup: Biden challenges Republicans with budget that raises taxes, sets up 2024 run; CIA future will be defined by US technology race with China, director says and more

The report cited China’s robust use of cyber tactics to surveille Americans, its success at stealing intellectual property, and ability to acquire foreign technologies. Biden's 'catch and release' border policy struck down by US judge A federal judge in Florida on Wednesday agreed with the state's Republican attorney general that the policy of President Joe Biden's administration to release many people who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexican border rather than detaining them violates U.S. immigration law.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden challenges Republicans with budget that raises taxes, sets up 2024 run

U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to the swing-state of Pennsylvania on Thursday to unveil a federal budget plan laden with spending proposals and higher taxes on the wealthy that will form a blueprint for his expected 2024 re-election bid. Biden's proposal, which resurrects many items stripped from last year's budget plan, faces even stiffer opposition in Congress this year, after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections.

CIA future will be defined by US technology race with China, director says

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s future will be defined by America's ongoing technology race with China, agency director William Burns said on Wednesday during a Senate hearing. Burns’ remarks followed the release of the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, which pointed to China as the biggest national security threat facing America. The report cited China’s robust use of cyber tactics to surveille Americans, its success at stealing intellectual property, and ability to acquire foreign technologies.

Biden's 'catch and release' border policy struck down by US judge

A federal judge in Florida on Wednesday agreed with the state's Republican attorney general that the policy of President Joe Biden's administration to release many people who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexican border rather than detaining them violates U.S. immigration law. U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell in Pensacola blocked the administration from continuing to implement a 2021 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo that had authorized "alternatives to detention" to ease overcrowding in detention facilities. These alternatives included ankle bracelets, phone monitoring or check-ins by immigration officers. Republican critics have called the policy "catch and release."

Biden's budget plan would boost childcare funding by billions of dollars

U.S. President Joe Biden's fiscal 2024 budget plan would boost federal funding for childcare and early childhood education by billions of dollars, ensuring free preschool for all of the country's 4 million 4-year-olds, the White House said. The proposal, which Biden will deliver to Congress on Thursday, revisits several items included in Biden's 2023 budget proposal that were removed during negotiations with Congress. Prospects for passage could be even harder this year, given Republicans' slim majority in the House of Representatives.

Three Los Angeles police officers shot, suspect dead - police

Three Los Angeles police officers were shot and wounded on Wednesday evening but were in stable condition while the suspect "was pronounced deceased", the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said. During a search for the suspect, a parolee at large, officers discovered that he was unresponsive, LAPD said in a post on Twitter.

Events leading up to the seizure of 4,000 beagles at Envigo facility

The U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed two of the top animal welfare officials at the Department of Agriculture to ask why they did not take action against animal research breeder Envigo despite documenting its mistreatment of thousands of beagles. Here is a timeline of the USDA’s inspections of Envigo before the Justice Department searched and seized more than 4,000 beagles in May 2022.

U.S. Senate Republican leader McConnell hospitalized after fall

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized after tripping at a hotel in Washington on Wednesday, his spokesperson said in a statement. "This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment," his spokesperson said.

Exclusive-U.S. probe of beagle breeder Envigo scrutinizes top animal welfare officials' inaction

Top animal welfare officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) were subpoenaed last year by a federal grand jury seeking to establish why they took no action against animal research breeder Envigo, despite repeatedly documenting the mistreatment of thousands of beagles, according to several people familiar with the matter. A deputy administrator of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Dr. Elizabeth Goldentyer, and its animal welfare operations director, Dr. Robert Gibbens, were ordered to appear before a grand jury in the Western District of Virginia as part of a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) into Envigo, the sources said.

Three Los Angeles officers stable after confrontation, gunman dead

Three Los Angeles police officers were in stable condition on Thursday after they were shot during a confrontation with a suspect who was later found dead at the scene, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said. The situation began at about 4 p.m. (midnight GMT) on Wednesday when officers responded to a call in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, where they conducted a search for a suspect on parole who was wanted by authorities, Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Alfred Labrada said at a news briefing.

US job openings stay elevated as labor market remains tight

U.S. job openings fell less than expected in January and data for the prior month was revised higher, pointing to persistently tight labor market conditions that likely will keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates for longer.

But the Labor Department's monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Wednesday also hinted at some cracks in the labor market. Layoffs rose to a two-year high in January and job cuts were higher than initially thought in 2022. Fewer people voluntarily quit their jobs.