US Domestic News Roundup: Slipping over Mexico border, migrants get the jump on U.S. court ruling; U.S. Supreme Court keeps pandemic-era border restrictions in place for now and more

In a 5-4 vote, the court granted a request by Republican state attorneys general to put on hold a judge's decision invalidating the emergency public health order known as Title 42. Ringleader in plot to kidnap Michigan governor sentenced to 16 years in prison The leader of a foiled plot by members of right-wing militia groups to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Tuesday in a U.S. District Court, prosecutors said.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Slipping over Mexico border, migrants get the jump on U.S. court ruling

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday opted to keep in place a measure aimed at deterring illegal border crossings, hundreds of migrants in northern Mexico were taking matters into their own hands to slip into the United States. The contentious pandemic-era measure known as Title 42 had been due to expire on Dec. 21, but last-minute legal stays pitched border policy into limbo and made a growing number of migrants decide they had little to lose by crossing anyway.

U.S. Supreme Court keeps pandemic-era border restrictions in place for now

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place for now a pandemic-era policy allowing U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants caught at the U.S.-Mexico border. In a 5-4 vote, the court granted a request by Republican state attorneys general to put on hold a judge's decision invalidating the emergency public health order known as Title 42.

Ringleader in plot to kidnap Michigan governor sentenced to 16 years in prison

The leader of a foiled plot by members of right-wing militia groups to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Tuesday in a U.S. District Court, prosecutors said. Adam Fox, 39, was found guilty in August by a federal court jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on one count each of conspiring to abduct Whitmer, a Democrat, and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in a scheme prosecutors said was intended to spark a "second American Revolution."

Embattled Republican Santos faces new heat over 'Jew-ish' heritage claim

U.S. Representative-elect George Santos, a New York Republican who this week acknowledged lying about his education and employment history while running for Congress, faced fresh criticism on Tuesday over his claims of Jewish heritage. The Republican Jewish Coalition said Santos would not be welcome at the group's future events after misleading its members about his ties to their faith.

Trump tax returns to be released by U.S. House panel on Friday

Former Republican President Donald Trump's redacted tax returns will be made public on Friday, a spokesperson for the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee said on Tuesday. The Democratic-controlled committee obtained the returns last month as part of an investigation into Trump's taxes, after a lengthy court battle that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the committee's favor.

Southwest cancels thousands more flights; U.S. government vows scrutiny

Southwest Airlines came under fire from the U.S. government on Tuesday after it canceled thousands of flights, and its boss, Bob Jordan, said the low-cost carrier needed to upgrade its legacy airline systems. U.S. airlines have canceled thousands of flights as a massive winter storm swept over much of the country before the Christmas holiday weekend, but Southwest's woes have deepened while other airlines have largely recovered.

Buffalo, N.Y., digs out from deadly blizzard; warming could bring rain, slush

Storm-weary road crews and residents of western New York state struggled on Tuesday to dig out from a deadly weekend blizzard, with snow still falling and forecasts for rapid warming and rains that could cause flooding and turn the frozen landscape to slush. The region in and around Buffalo, New York, downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario emerged as ground zero for an Arctic deep freeze and massive winter storm that extended over most of the United States last week and through the Christmas holiday as far south as the Mexican border.

Insider trading convictions over healthcare leaks are voided by U.S. appeals court

A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out the insider trading convictions of four defendants, including two former hedge fund partners, over leaks from a U.S. healthcare agency about planned changes to Medicare reimbursement rates. In a 2-1 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan dismissed fraud and theft charges against former Deerfield Management Co partners Theodore Huber and Robert Olan, former U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) employee Christopher Worrall, and David Blaszczak, the founder of political consulting firm Precipio Health Strategies.

Another militia member in Michigan governor kidnapping plot faces sentencing

Another right-wing militia member convicted in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer faces several years in prison when he is sentenced on Wednesday in a U.S. District Court. Barry Croft Jr., 47, a member of the far-right Three Percenters militia group, was convicted in August by a federal court jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, of plotting to abduct the Democratic governor.

Arizona judge rejects governor-elect's request to sanction election denier Lake

An Arizona judge on Tuesday rejected Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs's request to sanction defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake over her failed effort to overturn the state's election results. Lake had filed a lawsuit alleging voter fraud and challenging the counting and certification of the November electoral contest in a bid to be declared the winner despite a lack of evidence. The suit was rejected by the Superior Court in Maricopa County on Saturday.