Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Within hours of the court's decision, Democrats running in gubernatorial elections in California and Virginia this year warned their Republican rivals would outlaw abortion if they won, while making impassioned fundraising appeals. Theranos judge requires COVID shots for jurors, but will that skew the jury pool? A U.S. judge this week dismissed from a jury pool nine people who were unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

South Carolina Supreme Court strikes down city's school mask mandate

South Carolina's Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a school mask mandate in the state's capital city in the midst of its largest surge in COVID-19 cases since last winter. In the latest of several such legal cases across a nation where cultural and political clashes have erupted over the COVID-19 response, the court ruled 5-0 to issue a declaratory judgment for South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who brought the case against the city of Columbia.

Republican Cheney to be vice chair of U.S. House panel on Jan. 6 attack

U.S. Representative Liz Cheney will serve as vice chair of the congressional select committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, an appointment likely to draw the ire of some of her fellow Republicans. Bennie Thompson, the panel's Democratic chairman, announced the appointment in a statement on Thursday that said Cheney demonstrated "again and again" a commitment to getting answers.

Sept. 11 victims' families push U.S. watchdog to investigate FBI's 'lost' evidence

Family members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, airplane attacks asked a U.S. government watchdog on Thursday to investigate their suspicions that the FBI lied about or destroyed evidence linking Saudi Arabia to the hijackers. The request in a letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz said "circumstances make it likely that one or more FBI officials committed willful misconduct with intent to destroy or secrete evidence to avoid its disclosure."

Biden warns of 'unconstitutional chaos' due to Texas abortion ban

A Texas law imposing a near-total ban on abortion that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed to stand will cause "unconstitutional chaos" by infringing on a right that women have exercised for almost a half-century, President Joe Biden warned on Thursday. The court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, also raised questions about how it will rule on a more sweeping upcoming case that could curb abortion rights nationwide, as it left in place the ban https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-abortion-ban-opens-up-wild-west-enforcement-critics-say-2021-09-02 on abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy.

U.S. Senator Manchin wants a pause in Democrats' push for $3.5 trillion spending bill

Senator Joe Manchin on Thursday urged fellow Democrats to pause in their push to enact a $3.5 trillion spending bill encompassing much of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda, casting doubt on whether and when they will be able to advance the package. "Instead of rushing to spend trillions on new government programs and additional stimulus funding, Congress should hit a strategic pause on the budget-reconciliation legislation," Manchin, a moderate West Virginia lawmaker, wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

Former Georgia district attorney indicted for obstruction in Arbery case

A Georgia grand jury indicted a former district attorney on Thursday on two charges stemming from her delay in charging suspects captured on video fatally shooting a Black man as he was out jogging in the coastal city of Brunswick. The men accused of the Feb. 23, 2020, killing of Ahmaud Arbery were not arrested until weeks after the release of the video, which sparked outrage across the country. Civil rights activists said it marked another example of a targeted attack on a Black man.

Analysis-Texas' near-total abortion ban injects new urgency into U.S. election campaigns

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to block https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/texas-six-week-abortion-ban-takes-effect-2021-09-01 a near-total ban on abortions by Texas, alarmed Democratic candidates and abortion rights advocates had a single, urgent message for voters on Thursday: Abortion rights are on the ballot. Within hours of the court's decision, Democrats running in gubernatorial elections in California and Virginia this year warned their Republican rivals would outlaw abortion if they won, while making impassioned fundraising appeals.

Theranos judge requires COVID shots for jurors, but will that skew the jury pool?

A U.S. judge this week dismissed from a jury pool nine people who were unvaccinated against COVID-19. He said his aim was to keep jurors and their families healthy but might his decision skew the jury pool? U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, presiding over the California fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, took the action on Tuesday.​

Ida's record rain floods New York-area homes, subways; at least 40 dead

Flash flooding killed at least 40 people in the Northeast as remnants of Hurricane Ida unleashed torrential rains that swept away cars, submerged New York City subway lines and grounded airline flights, officials said on Thursday. Across large swaths of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, residents spent the day coping with water-logged basements, power outages, damaged roofs and calls for help from friends and family members stranded by flooding.

Ida's deluge stuns New Yorkers in its sheer intensity

New Yorkers are a stoic lot - and no strangers to extreme weather. But even they were taken off guard by the sheer volume of rain that fell in a few short hours on Wednesday evening and the chaos it provoked. Social media was abuzz with videos showing cars nearly submerged on major roadways and waterfalls gushing into subway stations as New York scrambled to respond https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-city-mayor-declares-state-emergency-after-record-breaking-rain-2021-09-02 to the unexpected ferocity of Ida, a storm that had already clobbered https://www.reuters.com/world/us/louisiana-left-without-power-mississippi-highway-collapses-idas-wake-2021-08-31 Louisiana when it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday.