Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Democrats vow to push ahead on Biden's coronavirus aid plan next week The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will move next week on President Joe Biden's plan to deliver a fresh infusion of COVID-19 relief to Americans and businesses reeling from the pandemic, top Democrats said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Personal touch, word of mouth: How U.S. rural communities succeed getting COVID-19 shots into arms

When Juan Carlos Guerra got the call on Jan. 12 that his county would receive 300 COVID-19 vaccine doses the following day, he went straight to work. Guerra, the top elected official in rural Jim Hogg County, Texas, got together with local school superintendent Susana Garza, who was helping him lead vaccination planning. They called hundreds of vaccine-eligible residents to schedule appointments, in stark contrast to big cities, where locals report struggling through maddening online registration processes. Democrats vow to push ahead on Biden's coronavirus aid plan next week

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will move next week on President Joe Biden's plan to deliver a fresh infusion of COVID-19 relief to Americans and businesses reeling from the pandemic, top Democrats said on Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said his narrowly divided chamber would begin work on a "robust" coronavirus package as early as next week, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted that Congress would complete a key preliminary step before the end of next week. Biden to reopen online health insurance marketplaces

U.S. President Joe Biden will reopen the nation's online health insurance marketplace for people who cannot obtain coverage through their employers, the White House said on Thursday. Biden, who took office last week, will restore access to healthcare.gov with an executive order on Thursday afternoon, the latest in a blizzard of moves by the Democratic president to quickly reverse the policies of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump. Unlike Trump, Biden cannot lean on conservative Supreme Court to keep agenda alive

The first major lawsuit hit President Joe Biden's administration two days after he took office, providing an early test not only of how much conservative legal opposition his policies will draw but also of his strategy in fending off such challenges. Unlike his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, whose administration sought to rush cases to a U.S. Supreme Court it considered friendly territory, Biden's team may not be able to count on a sympathetic audience among the conservative justices who hold sway on the nation's top judicial body. Special counsel appointed under Trump seeks prison for former FBI lawyer

A former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to falsifying a document during the agency's investigation of contacts between former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia is due to be sentenced on Friday, with a special counsel appointed under Trump asking a judge to have him serve prison time. Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted to altering an email used to justify a government wiretap of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. A partnership: Biden-Harris model their White House on Obama-Biden

President Joe Biden promised after November election's that he and Vice President Kamala Harris would govern as a "simpatico" team. In their first days at the White House, the two are crafting a partnership that recalls Biden's own service as former President Barack Obama's No. 2. It starts most days with a White House briefing by the national security adviser. At nearly everyone of Biden's public events, Harris stands prominently nearby. Behind closed doors, they are briefed on the coronavirus pandemic and other issues together. Six killed in liquid nitrogen leak at Georgia state poultry plant

At least six people were killed and 12 hospitalized on Thursday after a suspected liquid nitrogen leak at a poultry plant in the U.S. state of Georgia, police and fire services officials said. Five people died at the Foundation Food Group plant in Gainesville, about 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Atlanta, and one died after being transferred to hospital, the officials said. Eleven soldiers sick in Texas, two critical, after ingesting substance

Two soldiers at Fort Bliss U.S. army base in El Paso, Texas, were in critical condition and nine others were sick after ingesting an unknown substance during a training exercise on Thursday, according to a statement from the 1st Armored Division at the base. It said the incident was being investigated but did not provide further details. U.S. COVID vaccine hopeful using Gates Foundation cash to prepare for human trial

Scientists who normally focus on fixing defective genes said on Friday that up to $2.1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help them move their COVID-19 vaccine candidate toward 2021 human trials. Harvard University scientist Luk Vandenberghe and University of Pennsylvania gene therapy head James Wilson said primate safety and efficacy tests have proven promising for their single-dose candidate, targeted for room-temperature storage. Chicago school district cancels some in-person classes as labor dispute flares

In-person classes in Chicago for pre-kindergarten and special education students were canceled again on Thursday as a labor dispute between teachers and school officials over the district's COVID-19 safety plan remained unresolved. Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), representing 28,000 public school educators, has been locked in negotiations with Chicago Public Schools for months over a plan to gradually reopen schools for in-person learning, including pandemic-related safety protocols.