Reuters US Domestic News Summary

U.S. charges nine Oath Keepers with conspiring to storm Capitol A federal grand jury indicted nine associates of the "Oath Keepers" militia on Friday for conspiring to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory, adding to a list of defendants with ties to the far-right anti-government group.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. House Democrats advance $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill

President Joe Biden's push for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill took a step forward on Friday as a U.S. House of Representatives committee unveiled the legislation Democrats hope to pass by late next week. The 591-page bill, stitched together by the House Budget Committee, would carry out Biden's proposals to provide additional money for COVID-19 vaccines and other medical equipment. U.S. Capitol Police investigating role of 35 officers during January 6 riot

Thirty-five U.S. Capitol Police officers are being investigated for their actions during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, and six have been suspended with pay, the police department said in a statement on Friday. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in the violence when throngs of former President Donald Trump's supporters attacked the Capitol, overpowering security forces. U.S. charges nine Oath Keepers with conspiring to storm Capitol

A federal grand jury indicted nine associates of the "Oath Keepers" militia on Friday for conspiring to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory, adding to a list of defendants with ties to the far-right anti-government group. In a superseding indictment, the U.S. charged six people allegedly connected to Oath Keepers - Ohio residents Sandra Ruth Parker, 60, and her husband Bennie Alvin Parker, 70, Graydon Young, 54, of Florida, Kelly Meggs, 52, and his 59-year-old wife Connie Meggs, also of Florida, and Laura Steele, 52, of North Carolina. Biden plans Texas visit, pushes for speedy disaster funds after storm crisis

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday he was ready to declare a major disaster in storm-slammed Texas, clearing the way for more federal aid, as soon as the declaration hits his desk, and said he would travel to the state as long as he was not a burden on local authorities. Millions of residents in the United States' biggest oil and gas producer have dealt with power outages, and nearly half of Texans struggled on Friday with disrupted water service after a major winter storm and cold snap. Nearly two dozen deaths have been attributed to the weather. Voting rights advocates decry 'devastating' Georgia measure limiting ballot access

Democrats and voting rights groups condemned on Friday a broad proposal by Georgia Republicans to limit absentee and in-person voting in the state, the latest salvo in a national fight over efforts to place new restrictions on casting a ballot. Republicans said the sweeping measure was needed to bolster confidence in election integrity after former President Donald Trump disputed November's results that saw Joe Biden become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in 28 years. Biden tours Pfizer vaccine plant as drugmaker promises to double supply

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday secured a commitment from Pfizer Inc to double the COVID-19 vaccine it churns out in the coming weeks, putting his goal to fill the country's inoculation stockpile by summer in sight. The drugmaker's chief executive, Albert Bourla, used a visit by the U.S. president to the company's largest manufacturing facility to announce that he expects to more than double the around 5 million doses per week the company currently provides to the U.S. government. Texas water shortages persist; 'fragile' power grid returns to life

In the latest fallout from a crippling winter storm, more than 14 million Texans on Friday had to endure disrupted water service, leaving many longing for a hot shower just as the state's power grid jerked back to life after five days of blackouts. All the state's power plants were functioning again, although more than 195,000 homes remained without electricity on Friday morning, and residents of 160 of Texas' 254 counties had water service disruptions, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. First month of shots find no safety issues with Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna vaccines: U.S. data

The two COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States have reassuring safety profiles with no concerning new issues found in data collected from the first month of vaccinations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday. After administration of 13.8 million doses of the Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna Inc vaccines to the U.S. population, most reports indicated non-serious side effects of the type that had been expected, such as headaches and fatigue. No deaths have been attributed to the vaccines, the data showed. Exclusive: White House working with Facebook and Twitter to tackle anti-vaxxers

The White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc's Google about clamping down on COVID misinformation and getting their help to stop it from going viral, a senior administration official said. President Joe Biden, who has raced to curb the pandemic since taking office, has made inoculating Americans one of his top priorities and called the move "a wartime effort." But tackling public fear about taking the vaccine has emerged as a major impediment for the administration. U.S. alleges Stanford researcher concealed connection to Chinese army

A federal grand jury has indicted a Stanford University medical researcher for allegedly concealing and lying about her membership of the Chinese military. In an indictment expanding on charges filed in January, the Justice Department accused Chen Song, a Stanford researcher who it said had described herself as a neurologist investigating brain disease, with visa fraud, obstruction of justice, destruction of documents, and making false statements as part of a scheme to conceal her membership of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).