Reuters US Domestic News Summary

At least four people were killed in twisters that touched down on Thursday in the panhandles of Texas and Florida, where flooding also forced almost 150 people out of their homes, officials said. Analysis-Biden's IRA climate bill won't cut deficit as expected When President Joe Biden signed his signature Inflation Reduction Act last August, he hailed the collection of green energy tax credits as a major victory for climate change, and flagged “another win” for the American people: cutting the deficit.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked 'Pentagon Papers,' dies at 92

Daniel Ellsberg, the U.S. military analyst whose change of heart on the Vietnam War led him to leak the classified "Pentagon Papers," revealing U.S. government deception about the war and setting off a major freedom-of-the-press battle, died on Friday at the age of 92, his family said in a statement. Ellsberg, who had been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in February, died at his home in Kensington, California, the family said.

U.S. South faces long, hot holiday weekend after tornadoes

A dangerous heat wave that helped spawn deadly tornadoes in Texas and Florida threatened on Friday to bring more extreme weather to the U.S. South, prompting the National Weather Service to warn Americans to limit time outdoors over the long Juneteenth weekend. At least four people were killed in twisters that touched down on Thursday in the panhandles of Texas and Florida, where flooding also forced almost 150 people out of their homes, officials said.

Analysis-Biden's IRA climate bill won't cut deficit as expected

When President Joe Biden signed his signature Inflation Reduction Act last August, he hailed the collection of green energy tax credits as a major victory for climate change, and flagged “another win” for the American people: cutting the deficit. "We’re cutting the deficit to fight inflation by having the wealthy and big corporations pay part of their fair share," Biden said, while signing the bill. The White House estimated, and independent budget analysts agreed, it could cut the deficit by $300 billion over the next decade.

Texas panhandle town hit by tornado, deaths reported

The Texas panhandle town of Perryton was struck on Thursday by one or more tornadoes, causing fatalities, the mayor said, as images from the ground showed much of the town left in rubble by the twister as emergency crews searched for survivors.

"It's bad, it's very bad. It's non-stop crazy. It couldn't have hit in a more vulnerable place," Mayor Kerry Symons said by telephone, adding that he would be unable to say how many people had died until Friday morning.

US House Speaker McCarthy threatens to block funding for Chile waiver program

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Friday threatened to use congressional appropriations to block funding for a U.S. visa waiver program for Chile, blaming rising criminal activity in the United States on the program. At a news conference in Santa Ana, California, McCarthy called on U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to suspend the program, a step that would allow law enforcement officials to run criminal background checks on those who have entered the country.

U.S. Supreme Court allows Justice Department to toss whistleblower cases

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday preserved the Justice Department's power to unilaterally dismiss lawsuits filed under a law that lets whistleblowers sue businesses on behalf of the government to recover taxpayer money paid to companies based on false claims in exchange for a portion of any recovery. The 8-1 ruling, written by liberal Justice Elena Kagan, upheld a lower court's decision to allow the Justice Department to toss a lawsuit against a UnitedHealth Group Inc unit by a former employee named Jesse Polansky who accused it of wrongdoing.

Pentagon leak suspect Teixeira to appear in court on Wednesday

The U.S. Air National Guardsman accused of leaking top-secret military intelligence records online will appear in a federal court in Massachusetts on Wednesday for his arraignment on some of the most serious security breach charges, a court notice showed on Friday. Jack Douglas Teixeira, 21, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, has been indicted on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to national defense, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

U.S. Energy Dept gets two ransom notices as MOVEit hack claims more victims

The U.S. Department of Energy got ransom requests from the Russia-linked extortion group Cl0p at both its nuclear waste facility and scientific education facility that were recently hit in a global hacking campaign, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The DOE contractor Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the New Mexico-based facility for disposal of defense-related radioactive nuclear waste, were hit in the attack, which was first reported on Thursday.

US imposes visa restrictions on Uganda officials after anti-LGBTQ law

The United States has imposed visa restrictions on Uganda officials after the African nation passed an anti-LGBTQ law that was condemned by many countries and the United Nations, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. The law, considered one of the harshest in the world, was enacted in May and carries the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," an offence that includes transmitting HIV through gay sex. It drew immediate rebukes from Western governments and put in jeopardy some of the billions of dollars in foreign aid the country receives each year.

Protests planned for Modi's US visit over India's human rights

U.S. rights groups plan protests next week against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington over what they call India's deteriorating human rights record, even though experts do not expect Washington to be publicly critical of New Delhi. The Indian American Muslim Council, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace and Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition plan to gather near the White House on June 22 when Modi is due to meet President Joe Biden.