US Domestic News Roundup: Biden pleased with election turnout, says reflects quality of party's candidates; Exclusive: As split Congress odds increase, Yellen warns of need to lift debt ceiling and more

Speaking to reporters in Cambodia ahead of an East Asia Summit, Biden said the turnout was a reflection of the quality of candidates his party was fielding, after Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was projected to win re-election in Nevada, narrowly beating Republican challenger Adam Laxalt. Exclusive: As split Congress odds increase, Yellen warns of need to lift debt ceiling With odds of a split U.S. Congress rising, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that lawmakers' failure to raise the statutory limit on U.S. debt posed a "huge threat" to America's credit rating and functioning of U.S. financial markets.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden pleased with election turnout, says reflects quality of party's candidates

Joe Biden said on Sunday he was "incredibly pleased" with the turnout in the U.S. election after Democrats clinched control of the Senate, a major victory for the president as he looks to his next two years in office. Speaking to reporters in Cambodia ahead of an East Asia Summit, Biden said the turnout was a reflection of the quality of candidates his party was fielding, after Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was projected to win re-election in Nevada, narrowly beating Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.

Exclusive: As split Congress odds increase, Yellen warns of need to lift debt ceiling

With odds of a split U.S. Congress rising, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that lawmakers' failure to raise the statutory limit on U.S. debt posed a "huge threat" to America's credit rating and functioning of U.S. financial markets. Yellen told Reuters in an interview in New Delhi on Friday that cooperation is still possible with Republicans on some issues, but lifting the debt ceiling is a non-negotiable item.

U.S. COVID public health emergency to stay in place

The United States will keep in place the public health emergency status of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing millions of Americans to still receive free tests, vaccines and treatments, two Biden administration officials said on Friday. The possibility of a winter surge in COVID cases and the need for more time to transition out of the public health emergency to a private market were two factors that contributed to the decision not to end the emergency status in January, one of the officials said.

Breakdancing holds firm to its roots but readies for Paris Olympic stage

Breakdancing is ready to embrace the Olympic spotlight with its Games debut less than two years away, as the pillar of hip-hop culture returned to its roots in New York this weekend. The Netherlands' India Sardjoe and United States' Victor Montalvo were crowned the Red Bull BC One World Final champions on Saturday in a celebration of breaking - as participants prefer to call it - in its New York home, as competitors turn their focus toward Olympic qualifying in 2023.

Biden accepts resignation of top U.S. border official Magnus

President Joe Biden has accepted the resignation of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Christopher Magnus, the White House said in a statement on Saturday. The statement comes a day after U.S. media said Magnus had been asked to resign or was fired in a sign of tension within Biden's administration over a record number of migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Yellen says U.S. debt ceiling hike by lame-duck Congress would be 'great'

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said that the Democrats' clinching of U.S. Senate control makes things easier for the Biden administration, but she would still like to see a debt ceiling increase approved before year-end in Congress's post-election "lame duck" session. Yellen told reporters on the sidelines of G20 summit meetings in Bali that Senate control by Democrats would ease the path for approving nominations and other legislative actions.

U.S. seeks 15 years for Elizabeth Holmes over Theranos fraud

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes should spend 15 years in prison and pay $800 million in restitution to investors defrauded in the blood testing start-up, U.S. prosecutors recommended late on Friday. The Department of Justice recommendation, made in a court filing, came as Holmes prepares to be sentenced next week.

Democrats keep control of U.S. Senate, crush Republican 'red wave' hopes

Democrats held onto control of the U.S. Senate, handing a major victory to President Joe Biden and extinguishing hopes of the "red wave" that Republicans had expected leading into the midterm elections. Biden - who struggled with low approval ratings ahead of Tuesday's elections, partly due to public frustration over inflation - said the late Saturday outcome made him look forward to the remainder of his term in office.

U.S. judge rejects Biden administration's LGBT health protections

A federal judge in Texas ruled on Friday that President Joe Biden's administration had wrongly interpreted an Obamacare provision as barring healthcare providers from discriminating against gay and transgender people. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo ruled that a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2020 holding that a law barring workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees did not apply to the healthcare law.

Election denier loses secretary of state race in Nevada

Jim Marchant, a former Nevada state assemblyman who opposed the certification of President Joe Biden's election win in the state in 2020, was defeated in his race to become Nevada's secretary of state, Edison Research projected on Saturday. Democrat Cisco Aguilar won the secretary of state race in Nevada, defeating Marchant, according to Edison Research.