US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. attorney general tells Texas to rescind immigrant COVID-19 order; Former U.S. Cardinal McCarrick charged with molesting teen in 1974 and more


Reuters | Updated: 30-07-2021 19:19 IST | Created: 30-07-2021 18:42 IST
US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. attorney general tells Texas to rescind immigrant COVID-19 order; Former U.S. Cardinal McCarrick charged with molesting teen in 1974 and more
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Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. attorney general tells Texas to rescind immigrant COVID-19 order

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday warned Texas Governor Greg Abbott to "immediately rescind" a new executive order aimed at curbing the travel into the state of undocumented immigrants who may pose a risk of transmitting COVID-19. "The order violates federal law in numerous respects, and Texas cannot lawfully enforce the executive order against any federal official or private parties working with the United States," Garland told Abbott in a letter.

Former U.S. Cardinal McCarrick charged with molesting teen in 1974

Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been charged with molesting a 16-year-old boy during a 1974 wedding reception, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official to be criminally prosecuted for sexually abusing a minor. Documents filed in state court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday show McCarrick, 91, faces three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older.

Biden wants state, local govts to pay $100 to newly vaccinated Americans -Treasury

President Joe Biden is calling for state, local, and U.S. territorial governments to provide $100 payments for every newly vaccinated American to boost COVID-19 inoculation rates, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday. The Treasury said in a statement that such incentives are an allowable use of funds from the $350 billion in aid granted to state, local, territorial and tribal governments under the American Rescue Plan Act. The department added that it would provide technical assistance in using these funds to support increased vaccinations.

U.S. Senate to vote to open debate on $1 trillion infrastructure bill

The U.S. Senate was poised on Friday to vote to begin debate on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that is one of Democratic President Joe Biden's top domestic priorities.

The result of months of talks between senators and the White House, the plan https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-biden-infrastructure-details/factbox-whats-in-the-us-senates-bipartisan-1-tln-infrastructure-plan-idUSL1N2P52EF includes funding to revamp roads, bridges and airports, but not the spending on combating climate change and social initiatives Democrats want to pass in a separate $3.5 trillion measure over Republican objections.

U.S. CDC internal report says Delta variant as contagious as chickenpox - report

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has described the Delta variant of the coronavirus as being as transmissible as chickenpox and cautioned it could cause severe disease, the Washington Post said, citing an internal CDC document. The variant was also more likely to break through protections afforded by the vaccines, but the health authority said such incidents were very rare, the CDC report posted on the Washington Post website showed. https://bit.ly/3778gY7

Biden calls for big budget bill to include immigration

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has called for providing a pathway to citizenship for so-called Dreamer immigrants, said on Thursday that a big budget bill being written by Democrats in Congress should tackle immigration. Biden, who made the comment to reporters at the White House, said on Sunday he was uncertain whether a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers could be included in the bill, which Democrats plan to pass without Republican support.

Former U.S. Senator Carl Levin, leading voice on national security, dead at 87

Former U.S. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, a long-serving Democratic leader who strenuously opposed the Iraq War and investigated U.S. detainee abuse while fighting corporate fraud, has died at age 87, his family said late on Thursday. Levin had been battling lung cancer, a diagnosis he revealed in a memoir published in March this year.

U.S. House to take up residential eviction moratorium extension

The U.S. House of Representatives will take up a measure on Friday to extend a COVID-19 eviction moratorium through Dec. 31 that is set to expire Saturday as millions of U.S. households could be forced out of rental homes. U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday asked Congress to extend the moratorium amid a deadly rise in coronavirus infections.

U.S. Navy sailor charged in fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard

A U.S. Navy sailor was charged on Thursday with starting a fire last year that burned for four days on the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, injuring more than 60 people and destroying the vessel. The sailor, who was not identified by name, was charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and could face court-martial, Navy Commander Sean Robertson, a spokesman for the U.S. 3rd Fleet, said in a statement.

U.S. Congress passes $2.1 billion for Capitol Police and Afghans

The U.S. Congress on Thursday approved emergency funding to replenish the Capitol Police and bolster security after the Jan. 6 riot by supporters of then-President Donald Trump and to evacuate Afghans who helped American forces from their country. The $2.1 billion bill was passed by the Senate by a vote of 98-0. The House of Representatives, which had previously passed its own $1.9 billion bill, then promptly approved the Senate version by a vote of 416-11, clearing the way for President Joe Biden to sign it into law.

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

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