US Domestic News Roundup: Biden on Friday to visit Mississippi town devastated by tornado; US House Republicans face unity test with major energy bill and more

The Bidens will meet with first responders, state and local officials and people impacted by the recent storms, and survey recovery efforts, the White House said in a statement. US House Republicans face unity test with major energy bill The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on its first major legislation of the year on Thursday, a partisan energy bill that poses an early test of unity for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's majority.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden on Friday to visit Mississippi town devastated by tornado

U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on Friday after the town was devastated by a tornado last week that killed 26 people, the White House said. The Bidens will meet with first responders, state and local officials and people impacted by the recent storms, and survey recovery efforts, the White House said in a statement.

US House Republicans face unity test with major energy bill

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on its first major legislation of the year on Thursday, a partisan energy bill that poses an early test of unity for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's majority. The 175-page measure, dubbed the Lower Energy Costs Act, represents a top 2022 Republican campaign pledge to lower Americans' energy costs by scaling back Democratic President Joe Biden's climate policies and increasing oil and gas production through deregulation.

Several feared dead after two US army helicopters crash during training in Kentucky

The governor of Kentucky said on Thursday fatalities were expected after two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a routine training mission over the state late on Wednesday. The status of the crew members was not immediately known, the U.S. Army's Fort Campbell said in a statement to Reuters, without providing the number of people who were on board.

Disney's Florida surprise: an end run around DeSantis

A Florida board created to oversee Walt Disney World's special taxation district is considering legal action after saying its power over the entertainment company's resort has been eviscerated, a spokesperson for the district confirmed on Wednesday. Florida lawmakers passed a bill in February giving Governor Ron DeSantis effective control over a board that oversees municipal services and development in a special district that encompasses Walt Disney World resort.

Bipartisan bill aims to increase penalties for US child labor violations

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bipartisan bill that would raise penalties on employers who violate child labor laws, in the wake of reporting and federal investigations that found a growing number of companies employing underage migrant workers in dangerous factory settings. The bill, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, follows a similar Democrat-led effort proposed this month in the Senate. The Department of Labor has also taken steps to increase enforcement of child labor violations and called on Congress to boost penalties.

Early 2024 salvos foreshadow unpredictable Trump vs DeSantis fight

The battle for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has for months been seen as a two-man race: a fight between Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rising national star long viewed as the only candidate capable of defeating the former Republican president. Yet missteps by DeSantis on foreign policy and a doubling down by Trump on politically violent rhetoric in recent days – the type of grievance politics that has alienated some previously loyal Trump supporters – has underscored the volatility of a race still in its earliest stages, party strategists and donors say.

Nashville shooting spurs U.S. schools to review security -- again

Security consultant Brink Fidler led the staff at the Covenant School in Nashville through mass shooter training in early 2022, teaching them escape and lockdown skills and medical trauma preparation. On Wednesday, two days after a 28-year-old former student opened fire inside the private Christian academy, Fidler said he saw signs that the teachers had implemented his advice.

N.Y. grand jury probing Trump to break for most of April -reports

The New York grand jury probing former President Donald Trump's alleged role in a hush-money payment to a porn star is not expected to reconvene on the matter for most of April as it takes a pre-scheduled break, U.S. media reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The grand jury has been hearing evidence from the Manhattan District Attorney's office about possible crimes related to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

US Senate backs repeal of 'zombie' Iraq war authorizations, 20 years after invasion

The U.S. Senate easily passed legislation on Wednesday to repeal two decades-old authorizations for past wars in Iraq, as Congress pushes to reassert its role in deciding whether to send troops into combat 20 years after the last invasion. The Democratic-led Senate voted 66-30 in favor of legislation to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, or AUMFs, a bipartisan majority well above the 51 votes needed to pass the measure that would formally end the Gulf and Iraq wars.

Memorial for Nashville shooting victims: 'Our hearts are broken'

First lady Jill Biden joined a memorial vigil in Nashville on Wednesday for the three children and three adults shot to death this week at a Christian day school, including two educators who were close friends of the Tennessee governor's wife. The outdoor ceremony, attended by several hundred people, began about an hour before sunset in Nashville Public Square Park, outside city hall in the state capital, Tennessee's largest city, and several miles from the scene of Monday's massacre.