US Domestic News Roundup: Biden visits Pittsburgh bridge collapse, vows more U.S. investment; Thousands honor slain New York police officer at Manhattan funeral and more

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, made a campaign pledge to end federal oil and gas drilling to fight climate change, and he quickly announced a suspension of all new lease sales pending a broad review of drilling's impact on global warming after taking office. Michelle Childs is among those being considered by President Joe Biden for nomination to the Supreme Court, a White House spokesperson said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden visits Pittsburgh bridge collapse, vows more U.S. investment

President Joe Biden stopped to look at a Pittsburgh bridge that collapsed just hours before he arrived for a scheduled visit to the city on Friday, dramatically underscoring the urgency of his drive to rebuild the United States' creaky infrastructure. Visibly moved, Biden gazed across a ravine over the buckled sections of the half-century-old Fern Hollow Bridge, flanked by Pennsylvania and local officials and emergency workers as he surveyed the damage.

Thousands honor slain New York police officer at Manhattan funeral

Thousands of New York City police officers lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue on Friday to honor a fellow officer who was shot and killed last week while responding to a domestic violence call. Officers dressed in blue uniforms with white gloves carried the flag-draped coffin of Jason Rivera, 22, one of four New York City officers shot over the past week, into a funeral service held in Manhattan's iconic St. Patrick's Cathedral.

U.S. orders 100 million additional COVID-19 tests to give out

The United States government has procured more than 100 million additional COVID-19 tests from testmaker iHealth Lab Inc. as part of the White House's plan to distribute 500 million free at-home tests across the country, the Department of Defense said Friday. Starting in January, the U.S. government has been allowing households to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests from the website COVIDTests.gov with shipping expected within seven to 12 days of ordering.

Trump says he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters if he runs and wins

U.S. former President Donald Trump said on Saturday if he were to run for president and win in 2024, he would pardon people charged with criminal offenses in connection with the deadly Jan. 6 assault by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol. Trump, who has not said whether he will run for president again after his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election, was speaking at a rally in Conroe, Texas.

At Avenatti fraud trial, Stormy Daniels says she speaks with the dead

Lawyer Michael Avenatti on Friday sought to undermine the credibility of porn star Stormy Daniels, the U.S. government's star witness against him at his fraud trial, by challenging her belief in paranormal activity and professed ability to speak with dead people. In five hours of cross-examining his former client, Avenatti tried to undercut the government's claim that he had embezzled nearly $300,000 from Daniels, who he represented in lawsuits against former President Donald Trump.

Nine hospitalized after incident in Ohio hotel

Nine people have been sent to area hospitals from a Hampton Inn in Ohio after people fell unconscious or reported burning sensations in their throats, police said on Saturday. In a series of phone calls to police in Marysville, Ohio, people at the hotel initially said that a two-year-old girl was unconscious in the pool area, then that others had passed out while still more people reported burning in their throats, said Marysville Police Chief Tony Brooks.

Major Nor'easter blankets U.S. East Coast with snow, heavy winds

The northeastern United States was walloped by a fierce winter storm on Saturday that dropped more than two feet (60 cm) of snow on some areas while packing high winds, prompting thousands of flight cancellations and leading governors in Rhode Island and other states to curtail access to the roads. Nearly 11 million people along the East Coast remained under blizzard warnings from the Nor'easter, according to the National Weather Service, including the Boston metropolitan area, which was forecast to be hit with up to 25 inches (64 cm) of snow. The storm blanketed a large swath of New England with snow.

Analysis-Biden gets climate win with court loss on Gulf of Mexico oil leases

A U.S. judge’s surprise decision this week to annul the Biden administration’s first Gulf of Mexico oil lease auction because of its climate change impact has raised questions about the future of the nation’s federal drilling program – and played directly into the president’s hand. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, made a campaign pledge to end federal oil and gas drilling to fight climate change, and he quickly announced a suspension of all new lease sales pending a broad review of drilling's impact on global warming after taking office. Some 25% of U.S. oil and gas production comes from federal lands and waters.

Biden considers Judge Childs, among others, for Supreme Court nomination -White House

U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs is among those being considered by President Joe Biden for nomination to the Supreme Court, a White House spokesperson said on Friday. Childs would replace Stephen Breyer, who announced on Thursday he would retire at the end of the court's term in June.

Pennsylvania court strikes down state's mail-in voting law

A Pennsylvania court sided with Republicans in striking down a law on Friday that eliminated barriers to voting by mail, raising doubts over ballot access in the battleground state ahead of important election contests this year. The administration of Democratic Governor Tom Wolf immediately appealed the ruling, which deemed the law unconstitutional. That puts its implementation on hold while the Pennsylvania Supreme Court weighs the matter.

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