Reuters US Domestic News Summary

"The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open, invests in the American people, and strengthens our economy and national security," Biden said in the statement. FBI tells Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 passengers they may be crime victims The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has told passengers who were on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 that suffered a Jan. 5 mid-air emergency that they may be victims of a crime, according to letters seen by Reuters.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

President Biden signs $1.2 trillion US spending bill

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a $1.2 trillion spending package, keeping the U.S. government funded through a fiscal year that began six months ago. Biden described the package, which Congress overwhelmingly passed in the early hours of Saturday, as investing in Americans as well as strengthening the economy and national security. The Democratic president urged Congress to pass other bills stuck in the legislative chambers.

US Vice President Harris visits Parkland shooting site, pushes new gun laws

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday remembered the victims of a 2018 mass shooting at the Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people, pushing for states to strengthen laws on seizing firearms from high-risk people. "We have a duty to remember and a duty to bear witness to what happened here," Harris said, referring to wounds both visible and unseen. "We must do better."

The al Qaeda plot to kill Bill Clinton that history nearly forgot

Air Force One with President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton aboard was on its final approach to Manila on Nov. 23, 1996, when their U.S. Secret Service detail received alarming intelligence: an explosive device had been planted on the motorcade route into the Philippines capital. Acting swiftly, the agents switched to a back-up route to the Clintons' hotel, foiling a suspected al Qaeda attempt to assassinate the president of the United States minutes after his arrival for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Biden signs $1.2 trillion funding package, averting government shutdown

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a $1.2 trillion budget bill to keep the U.S. government funded through a fiscal year that began six months ago and to avert a partial shutdown, according to a statement released by the White House. "The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open, invests in the American people, and strengthens our economy and national security," Biden said in the statement.

FBI tells Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 passengers they may be crime victims

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has told passengers who were on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 that suffered a Jan. 5 mid-air emergency that they may be victims of a crime, according to letters seen by Reuters. The letters, a procedural step in some criminal investigations by the Justice Department, are a sign that its probe into the MAX 9 emergency is moving forward.

Ad campaign uses humor to urge Americans to ditch natural gas

When environmentalists talk about climate change, it's typically in stark terms, describing it as a crisis that threatens the future of the planet. A scrappy group of filmmakers and activists think it can also be funny. The Gas Leaks Project, a group formed by climate advocacy veterans, launched a $1 million campaign this week that uses humor to push back against oil and gas industry messaging that natural gas, which is lower emitting than coal, is a critical "bridge fuel" in the transition to renewable energy.

Treasury's Yellen says funding bill allows lending of $21 billion to IMF trust

A $1.2 trillion government funding bill passed by Congress will allow the U.S. to lend up to $21 billion to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) trust to help the world’s poorest countries, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Saturday. Yellen said the funding would make the United States the largest supporter of the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), which provides zero-interest rate loans to support low-income countries as they work to stabilize their economies, boost growth and improve debt sustainability.

US home flipping malaise pinches reality TV stars to contractors

While the increase in interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve over the last two years put a damper on the overall U.S. housing market, it took a sledge hammer to home flippers from small contractors to reality TV stars. Just ask Tarek El Moussa, star of HGTV’s "The Flipping El Moussas" and former co-host of the real estate and renovation focused channel's mainstay, "Flip or Flop."

Mountain lion kills man, injures brother in rare California fatal attack

A mountain lion killed a 21-year-old man and gravely wounded his younger brother on Saturday in the foothills of northern California's Sierra Nevada, marking the first fatal cougar attack in the state in 20 years, authorities said. The two brothers were attacked as they were out collecting deer antlers in remote wooded area near Georgetown, a former gold rush mining camp in El Dorado County northeast of Sacramento, the state capital, the county sheriff's office said.