Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Factbox: How Biden's proposed tax hikes for the wealthy would fund childcare, community college

President Joe Biden on Wednesday will propose raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to pay for pre-kindergarten and community college education and paid leave for healthcare. The $1.8 trillion plan involves $1 trillion in new spending and $800 billion in tax credits. WHAT AMERICANS WOULD GET

Masks, distanced applause: Small crowd planned for Biden's first speech to Congress

In his decades in elected office, President Joe Biden attended dozens of his predecessors' joint addresses to the U.S. Congress, but the scene he faces when he takes the podium at the House of Representatives on Wednesday will look very different. Just 200 people, mostly lawmakers plus a handful of representatives of other arms of government and select family members, will attend the masked, socially distanced speech, in a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic that has not fully released the nation from its grip.

Arizona governor signs ban on abortions based on genetic abnormalities

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law on Tuesday a measure banning abortions performed strictly on the basis of genetic disorders detected in the fetus, such as Down syndrome or cystic fibrosis, unless the condition is considered lethal. The bill, approved in Arizona's Republican-controlled legislature along strict party-line votes last week, makes it a felony for a medical professional to terminate a pregnancy solely on the basis of a hereditary abnormality in the fetus.

U.S. Senate to vote on measure to reverse methane rule rollbacks in climate move

The U.S. Senate will vote on Wednesday on a measure to restore regulation of emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, a move that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a "big deal" in fighting climate change. Schumer, along with fellow Democrats Martin Heinrich and Ed Markey and Independent Angus King, will introduce their resolution in the Senate under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a 1996 law that allows Congress to reverse federal rules implemented in the last days of a past administration with a simple majority.

Potential future Biden Supreme Court pick set for U.S. Senate hearing

A federal judge considered a possible future U.S. Supreme Court nominee is set to testify on Wednesday at a Senate confirmation hearing for her selection by President Joe Biden to serve on an influential appeals court. U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee after being nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to replace Attorney General Merrick Garland on the bench. That appellate court in the past has served as a springboard to the Supreme Court for some justices.

Exclusive-U.S. Justice Department ends Trump-era limits on grants to 'sanctuary cities'

The U.S. Justice Department has repealed a policy put in place during Donald Trump's presidency that cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. In an internal memo seen by Reuters, acting head of the Office of Justice Programs Maureen Henneberg said that prior grant recipients, including cities, counties and states that were recipients of the department's popular $250 million annual grant program for local law enforcement, will no longer be required to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a condition of their funding.

Biden to push trillions in investment, plead for police reform in Congress speech

U.S. President Joe Biden plans to unveil a sweeping $1.8 trillion package for families and education in his first joint speech to Congress on Wednesday, as he stresses the need to invest to compete with China, the White House said. Biden will argue that the new package – which together with an earlier infrastructure and jobs plan totals around $4 trillion, rivaling the annual federal budget – is a once-in-a-generation investment vital to America's future.

Race, crime, Trump loom over vote for Manhattan's top prosecutor

In 46 years, the Manhattan district attorney's office has changed leaders only twice, in low-key elections focused heavily on fighting crime. Not this year.

Scott to share 'my family's American Dream' in Republican rebuttal to Biden speech

After President Joe Biden lays out his ambitions to reshape the U.S. economy and address racial injustice on Wednesday, Republican Senator Tim Scott will make his party's argument that the Democratic agenda is a path to misery for working Americans. A rising star in his party and the sole Black Republican in the Senate, Scott has promised to deliver an "honest conversation" and an "optimistic and hopeful message" in his own nationally televised remarks.

Biden's families plan includes free meals for millions of low-income children

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday will propose that Congress spend $45 billion to provide free meals to millions more low-income children, a move that would expand anti-poverty measures adopted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden wants lawmakers to fund the permanent expansion of a bridge program that gives low-income families cash to pay for food in the months when school is out for the summer and lunches aren't served. He is also asking to provide more money for free meals in high-poverty areas throughout the school year.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)