Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Dozen U.S. National Guard troops removed from inaugural duty after vetting A dozen members of the U.S. National Guard have been removed from duty helping secure the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden after vetting, which included screening for potential ties to right-wing extremism, Pentagon officials said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. In farewell address, Trump urges prayers for next administration without mentioning Biden

U.S. President Donald Trump, in a farewell address released on Tuesday, urged prayers for the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden but declined to acknowledge his Democratic successor by name. "This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous," the Republican president said in the video remarks. "We extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck - a very important word." Analysis: Trump's legacy - A more divided America, a more unsettled world

When President Donald Trump delivered his inaugural speech on Jan. 20, 2017, he promised an end to “American carnage,” a bleak and dysfunctional nation he had insisted that he alone could fix. Closing out his presidency exactly four years later, Trump leaves behind an even more polarized America, where thousands are dying daily from the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is badly damaged and political violence has surged. Trump fraud claims open Republican rift in Texas and other red states

Pat Cowan, a Republican official in west Texas, would rather blow up her party than see it controlled by “weak” Republicans who increasingly are distancing themselves from President Donald Trump since the U.S. Capitol riots he is accused of inciting. “You can’t tell those Republicans from the Democrats!” she scoffed in an interview at her home in Levelland, Texas. Chef Jose Andres steps in to feed Washington inauguration troops

Jose Andres has fed hurricane and earthquake victims and some of the millions of Americans left hungry by coronavirus shutdowns. Now he's feeding thousands of security personnel protecting Wednesday's presidential inauguration. "We know how to mobilize a lot of food very quickly," said Nate Mook, the CEO of World Central Kitchen (WCK), an international aid group founded by Andres, a Spanish chef and restaurateur. YouTube bans Trump for another week over inauguration violence concerns

YouTube said on Tuesday it was extending a one-week ban on outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump uploading videos or live-streaming to his channel for at least an additional seven days. Alphabet Inc's video streaming plaform banned Trump on Jan. 12 for a minimum of one week for violating its policy against inciting violence after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress began to certify Biden's victory on Jan. 6. Dozen U.S. National Guard troops removed from inaugural duty after vetting

A dozen members of the U.S. National Guard have been removed from duty helping secure the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden after vetting, which included screening for potential ties to right-wing extremism, Pentagon officials said on Tuesday. A Pentagon spokesman said the vetting went beyond ties to extremist groups. One Guard member was removed from duty after troubling text messages and another had been reported to a tip line, Army General Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters. U.S. exceeds 400,000 coronavirus deaths

The U.S. coronavirus death toll topped 400,000 on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the country hardest hit by the pandemic struggled to meet the demand for vaccines to stem the spread of infection. States including Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina and Vermont have shown signs of vaccine supply strain and are asking for more doses of both approved vaccines, one from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other from Moderna. An emotional Biden bids farewell to Delaware on his way to White House

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden became emotional during a brief farewell ceremony in Delaware on Tuesday before heading to Washington for his inauguration, choking back tears as he reflected on his long journey to the White House and remembered his son. Biden thanked friends and family who had gathered to see him off at a National Guard center named after his son Beau - whose death from cancer in 2015 contributed to then-Vice President Biden's decision not to seek the White House in 2016. Prosecutors say Oath Keepers militia members conspired in U.S. Capitol siege

Prosecutors on Tuesday said three people affiliated with a far-right militia group conspired to breach the U.S. Capitol, the first time they have directly accused people of organizing the violent Jan. 6 uprising that left five people dead. Thomas Edward Caldwell, 65, of Clarke County, Virginia, whom investigators said has a leadership role in the Oath Keepers group, was named in a criminal complaint as having participated in the Capitol riots by President Donald Trump's supporters. Biden's defense secretary pick pledges to 'rid our ranks of racists and extremists'

Retired Army General Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday that he would work to rid "racists and extremists" from the ranks of the U.S. military, mend alliances and focus strategically on China if confirmed as President-elect Joe Biden's defense secretary. Austin would become America's first Black defense secretary and has declared his intention to improve diversity within the U.S. military, which is diverse in the lower ranks but largely white and male at the top.