Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The U.S. Department of Justice in its petition argued the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November wrongly declared that a rule adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2022 to combat the rapid proliferation of ghost guns was "unlawful." Haley vows to stay in race following 'embarrassing' Nevada defeat Nikki Haley's presidential campaign on Wednesday brushed off her mortifying defeat in Nevada's primary and said the former United Nations ambassador would press ahead with her long-shot challenge to former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US attorney general says special counsel has completed probe in Biden documents case

Special Counsel Robert Hur has completed his investigation into whether U.S. President Joe Biden mishandled classified documents dating to his time as vice president, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a letter to Congress on Wednesday. Garland said in the letter to House and Senate judiciary committee leaders that Hur had submitted his final report to the White House and Biden's personal lawyer to allow comments and to review for executive privilege.

After twin failures, Johnson confronts new doubts as US House leader

A day after back-to-back failures on two high-profile bills, Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson faced doubts about his leadership on Wednesday, as Congress lurched toward another government shutdown deadline in less than a month. Johnson, a 52-year-old Christian conservative who was relatively new to leadership ranks when the House of Representatives elected him speaker in October, already had the daunting task of holding his raucous majority together to enact 12 appropriations bills for fiscal 2024 before funding runs out beginning March 1.

Georgia prosecutor in Trump case fights testifying about relationship

Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis, who is overseeing the election interference case against former President Donald Trump, asked a judge on Wednesday to quash demands she testify about an alleged improper relationship with a lead prosecutor on the case. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, said in a court filing that one of Trump's co-defendants, Michael Roman, has subpoenaed her, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, and other prosecutors and investigators in her office to testify at a Feb. 15 hearing focused on Willis' personal relationship with Wade.

US FAA wants air carriers to boost aviation info sharing

The head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met with airline CEOs on Wednesday and asked carriers to share more information to boost safety and identify potential problems. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker convened a meeting with airline CEOs, the agency said, to "ensure the aviation industry continues expanding safety management systems and finding ways to share information transparently to minimize risk and advance safety."

Florida top court weighs letting voters decide abortion rights amendment

Florida's attorney general on Wednesday urged the state's highest court to block voters from deciding whether to amend the state constitution to protect abortion, arguing the measure was misleading and unclear. Nathan Forrester, a lawyer for Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody, told the seven justices of the Florida Supreme Court that the amendment is a "Rorschach test." He said it would effectively eliminate the state's authority to regulate abortion, but that some voters might not realize how broad it was.

Biden administration asks US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost gun' appeal

The Biden administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court ruling that would prevent it from regulating privately made firearms called "ghost guns" that are difficult for law enforcement to trace. The U.S. Department of Justice in its petition argued the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November wrongly declared that a rule adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2022 to combat the rapid proliferation of ghost guns was "unlawful."

Haley vows to stay in race following 'embarrassing' Nevada defeat

Nikki Haley's presidential campaign on Wednesday brushed off her mortifying defeat in Nevada's primary and said the former United Nations ambassador would press ahead with her long-shot challenge to former U.S. President Donald Trump. Haley lost Nevada's Republican primary handily on Tuesday even though she was the only candidate listed on the ballot. She secured just 31% in the contest, well behind the 63% of the ballots cast for "none of these candidates," according to Nevada election officials.

Trump told supporters to ignore Nevada's primary; they humiliated Haley anyway

Donald Trump told his supporters not to bother with Tuesday's Nevada primary because he was not on the ballot, but nearly 44,000 Republicans cast votes anyway to deliver a stinging rebuke to Nikki Haley. Even though Haley, Trump's last remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination, was the only major candidate on Tuesday's primary ballot, she lost in a landslide to ballots marked "none of these candidates."

More rain ahead for Southern California, adding to threats of mudslides, flooding

Rain was expected to resume in Southern California on Wednesday, bringing with it a renewed threat of mudslides and flooding to a region saturated by record-breaking precipitation over the last several days. Up to 1 inch (2.54 cm) of rain was forecast for the Los Angeles area during the afternoon and evening as the atmospheric river storm that drenched Southern California moves east toward the Desert Southwest, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

US Senate defeats border deal, but Ukraine, Israel aid may survive

Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday defeated a bipartisan effort to bolster border security that had taken months to negotiate, but said they could still approve aid for Ukraine and Israel that had been tied up in the deal. By a vote of 49-50, largely along party lines, the Senate failed to approve a $118 billion bipartisan package that would tighten immigration laws, help Ukraine fight a Russian invasion and bolster Israel in its war with Hamas.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)