Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

California says it needs more power to keep the lights on

California energy officials on Friday issued a sober forecast for the state's electrical grid, saying it lacks sufficient capacity to keep the lights on this summer and beyond if heatwaves, wildfires or other extreme events take their toll.

The update from leaders from three state agencies and the office of Governor Gavin Newsom comes in response to a string of challenges with the ambitious transition away from fossil fuels, including rolling blackouts during a summer heat wave in 2020.

Georgia official rules U.S. Representative Greene can seek reelection

U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene should be allowed to run for reelection, Georgia's secretary of state ruled on Friday, rejecting arguments by a group of voters that her comments about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol made her unfit for federal office. Georgia's Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger issued a final decision upholding the findings of Charles Beaudrot Jr., an administrative law judge in Atlanta. Free Speech for People, the group spearheading the legal challenge, vowed to appeal the decision to the Georgia Superior Court.

New Mexico races to fight wildfires with more heat, wind on the way

Airborne firefighters dumped water and retardants on a raging New Mexico wildfire on Saturday, expediting their mission ahead of gustier forecast winds that officials said were expected to ground much of their aerial campaign in the coming days. In all New Mexico was battling at least six wildfires, the worst of them burning the mountains and canyons just east of the capital of Santa Fe, amid extremely hot, windy and dry weather that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham called "the worst possible set of conditions for any fire."

After abortion leak, Justice Thomas warns Supreme Court can't be 'bullied'

Following protests sparked by the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court decision indicating the justices are poised to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas said on Friday that the court cannot be "bullied." The leak set off a political firestorm, with abortion-rights supporters staging rallies outside the courthouse and at locations around the United States, as well as an internal crisis at the nation's top judicial body where an investigation into the source of the unprecedented disclosure is underway.

Rich nations must stick to climate promises, says U.S. envoy Kerry

The world's richest nations must implement their promises to keep alive a global goal to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told Reuters on Saturday. Kerry said progress was vital as Egypt prepares to host the next round of U.N. climate talks, known as COP27, in November in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Country singer Mickey Gilley, whose bar launched 'Urban Cowboy,' dies

Country singer Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas-sized honky-tonk bar was the birthplace of the "Urban Cowboy" music and fashion fads of the 1980s, died at age 86 in Branson, Missouri, his Facebook page announced on Saturday. Gilley, a first cousin of both rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, "had just come off the road ... having played 10 shows in April," his Facebook page said.

Biden touts manufacturing, union jobs in battleground Ohio

President Joe Biden boasted on Friday of a U.S. manufacturing surge and introduced a new small business program in the key swing state of Ohio during his sixth visit there as president Biden was buoyed by strong numbers earlier in the day that showed the U.S. added 428,000 jobs in April https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-job-growth-solid-april-unemployment-rate-steady-36-2022-05-06, more than expected and the 12th straight month of job gains in excess of 400,000. Manufacturing has seen the largest 15-month job gain in 15 years, he noted.

Two plead guilty for assaulting ex-police officer Fanone during 2021 U.S. Capitol riot

Two men pleaded guilty this week for their roles in assaulting former Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and electrocuted with a taser during the January 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington by throngs of former President Donald Trump's supporters. On Friday, defendant Albuquerque Cosper Head, 42, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in a federal court in Washington to assaulting or impeding a police officer. In the hearing, he acknowledged he was responsible for pulling Fanone into the crowd.

U.S. judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit challenging his Twitter ban

A U.S. judge on Friday dismissed former President Donald Trump's lawsuit against Twitter Inc that challenged his suspension from the platform. In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco rejected Trump's argument that Twitter violated his right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Alito's abortion history lesson in dispute

Justice Samuel Alito's draft U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide hinges on a contested historical review of restrictions on the procedure enacted during the 19th century. Lawyers and scholars backing abortion rights have criticized Alito's reading of history as glossing over disputed facts and ignoring relevant details as the conservative justice sought to demonstrate that a woman's constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy was wrongly recognized in the Roe ruling.

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