Reuters US Domestic News Summary

In a complaint filed in a Lubbock County state court, Paxton said it was misleading for Pfizer to claim its vaccine was 95% effective because it offered a "relative risk reduction" for people to who took it. Democrats have no Biden backup plan for 2024, despite age concerns The Democratic Party has no Plan B if President Joe Biden decided for any reason to halt his 2024 re-election campaign, and a sudden need to replace him as its standard-bearer would spark a messy intraparty battle.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US military aircraft crashes in sea off Japan, at least one dead

A U.S. military aircraft carrying eight people crashed into the sea in Japan on Wednesday, killing at least one crew member. The U.S. military said the mishap occurred during a routine training mission off the shores of Yakushima Island, about 1,040 km (650 miles) southwest of the capital Tokyo.

Embattled US congressman George Santos says he'll not 'stand by' expulsion attempt

Indicted U.S. Representative George Santos on Thursday was defiant ahead of an expected vote to expel him from Congress and lashed out at other lawmakers in what could be his final days on Capitol Hill. "I will not stand by quietly. The people of Third District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, they're going to have to go silence those people and take the hard vote," Santos said on the House floor.

Biden praised Kissinger in life, offers measured reaction on his death

As Senate Foreign Relations Chair, Joe Biden offered effusive praise of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger when the veteran diplomat spoke to Congress in 2007. Kissinger's name is "synonymous with effective diplomacy, effective American diplomacy, and, I think few would argue with the fact, one of the best strategic minds in the country," Biden said in 2007, introducing Kissinger to a committee hearing on the future of Iraq, a transcript shows.

Ex-US Marine pleads guilty to firebombing California abortion clinic

An ex-U.S. Marine pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges that he firebombed a women's health and abortion clinic in Southern California last year and admitted in court to plotting several other acts of "domestic extremism," prosecutors said. Chance Brannon, 24, was on active duty stationed at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base in San Diego County when he hurled a Molotov cocktail at the entrance to a Planned Parenthood clinic in the early morning hours of March 13, 2022, according to a federal indictment.

Senate Democrats authorize US Supreme Court ethics subpoenas

A Democratic-led U.S. Senate panel on Thursday authorized subpoenas to two influential conservatives - Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo - as part of an ethics inquiry spurred by reports of undisclosed largesse directed to some conservative Supreme Court justices. The Judiciary Committee voted to authorize the subpoenas for Crow, a billionaire Republican donor and benefactor of conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, and Leo, a legal activist who was instrumental in compiling Republican former President Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

Biden backers rev up write-in campaign in New Hampshire to avoid loss

President Joe Biden's name will not be on New Hampshire's primary ballot, but top Democrats are organizing a shoe-string, write-in campaign aimed at preventing an embarrassing loss for the president that might fuel concerns about his 2024 election prospects. Thousands of voters have already committed to the effort along with county and local party chairs, said California Congressman Ro Khanna, who will lead a call with organizers on Thursday evening on the effort.

Pfizer is sued by Texas over COVID vaccine claims

Pfizer has been sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who on Thursday accused the drugmaker of misrepresenting the efficacy of its widely-used COVID-19 vaccine. In a complaint filed in a Lubbock County state court, Paxton said it was misleading for Pfizer to claim its vaccine was 95% effective because it offered a "relative risk reduction" for people to who took it.

Democrats have no Biden backup plan for 2024, despite age concerns

The Democratic Party has no Plan B if President Joe Biden decided for any reason to halt his 2024 re-election campaign, and a sudden need to replace him as its standard-bearer would spark a messy intraparty battle. Despite weak poll numbers and questions, including from some Democrats, about his age, Biden has stuck to his plan to seek a second term after clearing the field of serious Democratic primary challengers when he announced in April that he was running again.

Judge won't halt US government destruction of Texas border razor wire fencing

A U.S. judge on Thursday rejected a bid by Texas to block federal immigration authorities from destroying razor wire fencing that the state placed along the border with Mexico to deter illegal border crossings. U.S. District Judge Alia Moses in Del Rio, Texas, in a written order, criticized the Biden administration for its "utter failure" to prevent unlawful entry into the United States, but said Texas was unlikely to prevail on its claims that a federal policy of removing the fencing was illegal.

US judge blocks Montana from banning TikTok use in state

A U.S. judge late on Thursday blocked Montana's first-of-its kind state ban on the use of short-video sharing app TikTok from taking effect on Jan. 1. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued a preliminary injunction to block the ban on the Chinese-owned app, saying the state ban "oversteps state power and infringes on the constitutional rights of users."

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