Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Chambers' appointment as the Justice Department's chief pandemic fraud prosecutor was previewed by President Joe Biden during last week's State of the Union address. One in five U.S. election workers may quit amid threats, politics – survey U.S. local election officials are increasingly concerned about threats and political pressure fueled by baseless allegations of voter fraud in the last presidential race, and one in five say they are somewhat or very unlikely to stay in their jobs through the 2024 contest, a national survey showed on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

United Airlines to let unvaccinated employees return to jobs March 28 -memo

United Airlines said Thursday it will allow unvaccinated employees to return to their jobs starting March 28 and asked a federal appeals court to dismiss a legal challenge to the COVID-19 mandate as moot. The Chicago-based U.S. carrier said in a memo about 2,200 employees had received vaccine-related reasonable accommodations after it had become the first major U.S. airline to mandate employee vaccines.

Lev Parnas, an ex-Giuliani associate, to plead guilty to conspiracy charge

Lev Parnas, convicted in October on campaign finance charges, will plead guilty to a conspiracy count concerning his work at a fraud insurance company that former ally Rudy Giuliani also worked for. Ukraine-born Parnas on Thursday asked U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan to schedule a change-of-plea hearing, after pleading not guilty in November 2020 to wire fraud conspiracy.

U.S. Justice Dept taps chief prosecutor to lead COVID fraud probes

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday tapped federal prosecutor Kevin A. Chambers to lead the department's efforts to help investigate fraudsters who used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to bilk government assistance programs. Chambers' appointment as the Justice Department's chief pandemic fraud prosecutor was previewed by President Joe Biden during last week's State of the Union address.

One in five U.S. election workers may quit amid threats, politics – survey

U.S. local election officials are increasingly concerned about threats and political pressure fueled by baseless allegations of voter fraud in the last presidential race, and one in five say they are somewhat or very unlikely to stay in their jobs through the 2024 contest, a national survey showed on Thursday. In the poll of nearly 600 election officials, more than 75% said threats against election administrators and staff have increased in recent years. The percentage saying they are "very worried" about political leaders interfering in future elections has nearly tripled since before 2020.

U.S. Senate aims for passage of gov't funding bill on Thursday-Schumer

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday pushed for quick passage of legislation providing emergency aid to Ukraine and new domestic funding that would avoid government agency shutdowns at the end of this week. "Once this bill arrives at the Senate (from the House of Representatives), Republicans must work with Democrats to pass a bill as soon as possible, hopefully tonight," Schumer said in a Senate speech.

U.S. Census undercounted Latinos, Black people and Native Americans

Black people, Latinos and Native Americans were undercounted during the 2020 national census, new U.S. Census Bureau data showed, potentially affecting political representation and federal funding for communities with significant minority populations. The once-a-decade national population count is used to draw both U.S. congressional and state legislative seats in each state, as well as to help distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds for everything from public housing to Medicare to highway construction.

Former USC water polo coach goes on trial in 'Varsity Blues' college scandal

A former University of Southern California water polo coach accepted bribes to help secure spots for wealthy parents' children as fake athletic recruits at the school , a prosecutor said on Thursday at the start of the second trial in the U.S. college admissions scandal. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Stearns told a federal jury in Boston that Jovan Vavic for years misled USC admissions officials into believing that unqualified high school students belonged on his championship water polo team, regardless of their abilities.

New York's first marijuana retail permits to go to people with convictions

The first licenses to open the newly legalized marijuana retail outlets coming to New York later this year will be reserved for people with prior marijuana-related convictions, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday. The policy, approved by the state's Cannabis Control Board earlier in the day, is intended to give people punished during prohibition the first chance to benefit from legalization of the drug, ahead of the U.S. corporations planning to capitalize on a valuable new retail market.

Americans consider fewer nights out as rising gasoline prices bite -Reuters/Ipsos

U.S. consumers plan to cut spending on restaurant meals and movies if gasoline prices keep rising as Russia's invasion of Ukraine rattles the global economy, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Thursday. Some 54% of U.S. adults expect to spend less on meals out if gasoline prices rise to between $6 and $7 per gallon, the poll found. Forty-nine percent said they would trim spending on movies and other entertainment. Some 60% said they would not drive as far for leisure activities.

U.S. Sen. Manchin wants Fed nominee vote to go ahead, without Raskin

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin wants his fellow Democrats on the Senate Banking committee to move ahead with four of President Joe Biden's five nominees to the Federal Reserve, dropping the fifth nominee, Sarah Bloom Raskin, Politico reported on Thursday. Republicans last month blocked a vote on the full Fed slate over objections to Raskin, a former Fed governor and Biden's pick to be the central bank's vice chair for supervision.

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