Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The bill is a maneuver by Democrats in which the House repackaged and passed the two elections-related bills as one, sending it to the Senate under a special procedure preventing Republicans from blocking debate. 'A bloody and desperate fight:' U.S. prosecutors release Oath Keepers' communications Here are excerpts of communications that Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, had with his allies in the run-up to and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to prosecutors, who on Thursday charged him and 10 alleged members of the group with seditious conspiracy.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Baltimore state's attorney indicted on federal charges

Baltimore state's attorney Marilyn Mosby, the city's top prosecutor, was indicted on Thursday on federal charges of perjury and filing false loan applications, court documents showed Mosby, a Democrat elected to her post in 2015, is accused in a federal grand jury indictment of falsely claiming to have suffered a work-related financial hardship from COVID-19 in order to withdraw $40,000 from her city employee retirement account.

Robert F. Kennedy's assassin Sirhan denied parole by California governor

California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday he has denied parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian refugee serving a life sentence for assassinating U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Newsom made the announcement after a California review board in August recommended Sirhan be released from prison, subject to review by the board's legal staff and by the governor himself. He had previously been denied parole 15 times.

U.S. Supreme Court blocks Biden vaccine-or-test policy for large businesses

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses - a policy the conservative justices deemed an improper imposition on the lives and health of many Americans - while endorsing a separate federal vaccine requirement for healthcare facilities. Biden voiced disappointment with the conservative-majority court's decision to halt his administration's rule requiring vaccines or weekly COVID-19 tests for employees at businesses with at least 100 employees. Biden said it now is up to states and employers to decide whether to require workers "to take the simple and effective step of getting vaccinated."

U.S. voting-rights bill passes in the House, but Senate prospects remain unclear

A Democratic bill intended to protect voting rights passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, though its chances were unclear in the narrowly divided Senate, where Republicans are unified in opposition. The bill is a maneuver by Democrats in which the House repackaged and passed the two elections-related bills as one, sending it to the Senate under a special procedure preventing Republicans from blocking debate.

'A bloody and desperate fight:' U.S. prosecutors release Oath Keepers' communications

Here are excerpts of communications that Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, had with his allies in the run-up to and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to prosecutors, who on Thursday charged him and 10 alleged members of the group with seditious conspiracy. NOVEMBER 2020

U.S. House panel subpoenas social media firms in Jan. 6 attack probe

The U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol subpoenaed Facebook parent Meta, Alphabet, Twitter and Reddit on Thursday, seeking information about how their platforms were used to help spread misinformation and violent extremism in the failed bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election. "We cannot allow our important work to be delayed any further," the House Select Committee's chairman, Bennie Thompson, said in a statement.

Far-right Oath Keepers first to be charged with seditious conspiracy in Capitol attack

U.S. prosecutors on Thursday charged the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, Stewart Rhodes, and 10 alleged members of the group with seditious conspiracy for their role in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. They said Rhodes had warned his group to prepare for a "bloody and desperate fight" in the days leading up to the assault, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump tried to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat.

U.S. Senator Sinema sinks Democrats' hopes for passing voting rights reform

U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema rejected President Joe Biden's plea to jettison the Senate's filibuster https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-democrats-mull-ending-filibuster-pass-voting-rights-reform-2022-01-11 rule to allow Democrats to pass a voting-rights bill, all but ensuring the bill's failure. Sinema called the measure a critical tool to tamp down the nation's deepening political divisions, while fellow centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said removing the guardrail would allow simple majorities to ram through extreme legislation.

Alec Baldwin will turn over cellphone in probe of movie set shooting - lawyer

A lawyer for Alec Baldwin on Thursday said the actor would hand over his cellphone as part of a probe into the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the movie set of Western "Rust," but police in New Mexico said they had yet to receive the device. Baldwin's lawyer, Aaron Dyer, said he had reached a deal with New Mexico authorities to turn in the phone after steps were taken to protect the actor's privacy regarding matters unrelated to the "Rust" investigation.

Republican Party could skip traditional U.S. presidential debates

The U.S. Republican Party on Thursday said its future presidential candidates might not participate in debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates due to concerns about fairness, upending decades of tradition. In a letter https://bit.ly/3I0DPmB to the nonprofit commission known as the CPD, which has run presidential debates since 1988, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party was considering amending its rules to ensure its candidates do not attend the debates because of concerns about "whether the CPD credibly can provide a fair and impartial forum for presidential debates."

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