US News Roundup: Exclusive-Union leaders backing Amazon election in Alabama discuss effort with White House; Officer who died after storming of U.S. Capitol lies in honor and more

U.S. COVID Task Force says new cases on decline but variants pose threat New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations appear to be on a downward trajectory in the United States as the Biden administration remains confident that it can hit its target of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Special Report: Stolen election? Republican lawmakers paralyzed by Trump's false fraud claims

On Jan. 6, right after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, 147 Republican lawmakers voted the way then-president Donald Trump and the rioters had demanded - to overturn his election loss, after months of Trump's baseless claims that the election had been stolen. A month later, the Republican party remains paralyzed by that false narrative. Fully 133 of those lawmakers, or 90%, are now declining to either endorse or repudiate Trump's continuing insistence that he was cheated by systemic voter fraud, according to a Reuters survey of all 147 lawmakers and a review of public statements they made to explain their votes against certifying the Electoral College results.

Exclusive-Union leaders backing Amazon election in Alabama discuss effort with White House

The White House and the labor leaders connected with the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union have discussed the group's effort to unionize an Amazon.com Inc facility in Alabama, an RWDSU official said on Wednesday. Amazon, America's second-biggest private employer behind Walmart Inc, does not have any union labor in the United States, and workers at its fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, would be the first to join if they vote in favour.

Exclusive: U.S. mulls using law designed to prosecute Mafia against Capitol rioters

The U.S. Justice Department is considering whether to charge members of far-right groups involved in the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol under a federal law usually used against organized crime, according to two law enforcement sources. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, enables prosecutors to combat certain ongoing racketeering crimes such as murder, kidnapping, bribery and money laundering. The 1970 statute provides for hefty criminal penalties including up to 20 years in prison and seizure of assets obtained illegally through a criminal enterprise.

New vaccine sites in urban California to tackle COVID-19 disparities

New vaccination centers are to open this month in the heart of two urban California communities especially hard hit by the coronavirus, as state and federal officials try to tackle racial and economic disparities hindering U.S. immunization efforts. Joint plans to launch the two sites on Feb. 16, at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in Oakland and the California State University campus in east Los Angeles, were detailed separately on Wednesday by Governor Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration's COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients.

'Hoping and praying': Tampa eyes Super Bowl windfall despite COVID-19 crunch

This Sunday's Super Bowl in Tampa will hardly rake in as much revenue as in past years but it is a welcome salve for Florida's third-largest city, with local businesses grateful for any windfall during a pandemic. Last year's Super Bowl, 280 miles (451 km) down the road in Miami, brought that city $572 million in new spending, according to Miami's Super Bowl Host Committee. This year's figure is expected to be far lower due to COVID-19, with limited attendance at the game, canceled corporate events and curtailed spending.

U.S. COVID Task Force says new cases on decline but variants pose threat

New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations appear to be on a downward trajectory in the United States as the Biden administration remains confident that it can hit its target of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said on Wednesday. However, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that new COVID-19 variants popping up across the country could threaten that positive momentum.

No in-person school in Chicago as labor dispute drags on over COVID-19 safety plan

Chicago schools have postponed in-person classes for another day for thousands of students after the third-largest district in the U.S. failed to reach an agreement with the teachers union on a COVID-19 safety plan. Late on Wednesday evening, Chicago Public Schools told some 67,000 pre-kindergarten, special education, elementary and middle school students, scheduled to return to their schools buildings on Thursday, to continue virtual classes at home.

U.S. Treasury says more time needed to decide on Trump tax returns - Bloomberg News

The U.S. Treasury said it needs more time to decide whether to fight House Democrats in their effort to get former President Donald Trump's personal and business tax returns, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. Given the transition to new leadership in the Biden administration, the Treasury needs more time to evaluate its position on the taxes, Bloomberg said, citing government lawyers as saying in a filing with Washington federal court. https://bloom.bg/3oN5T39

In uneasy truce, House Republicans fail to punish Greene or Cheney

U.S. House Republicans opted on Wednesday not to punish newcomer Marjorie Taylor Greene for incendiary comments, including support for violence against Democrats, and turned back an attempt to oust a leader who had voted to impeach President Donald Trump. The twin actions, taken in a closed-door meeting, amounted to an uneasy truce for a party that has faced internal strife following Trump's tumultuous presidency.

Officer who died after storming of U.S. Capitol lies in honor

U.S. lawmakers, the Washington mayor and police officers filed beneath the soaring U.S. Capitol dome on Wednesday to pay tribute to Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died from injuries sustained during the Jan. 6 storming of the seat of government. Lying in honor is one of the highest tributes Congress can bestow on a civilian. Sicknick, 42, was only the fifth person and the third Capitol Police officer to receive the honor.