US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. Senate bill could be death blow for Biden anti-drilling pledge; Biden nominates abortion rights lawyer in U.S. Supreme Court case to federal judgeship and more

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday the state violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) by demanding nearly 30 pages’ worth of “sprawling” environmental regulations, as well as tort and family-law changes with no direct relation to gaming activities. U.S. judge rejects parts of Boy Scouts' $2.7 billion sex abuse deal A U.S. judge on Friday rejected key aspects of the Boy Scouts of America's reorganization plan and its underlying sex abuse settlement, delaying the national youth organization's ability to emerge from bankruptcy.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. Senate bill could be death blow for Biden anti-drilling pledge

U.S. President Joe Biden vowed during his 2020 election campaign to end federal oil and gas drilling as a major step in his strategy to fight climate change. The U.S. Senate Democrats' $430 billion spending bill agreed this week could kill that pledge. If it passes, it would effectively guarantee continued drilling rights auctions on federal lands and waters for at least another decade.

Biden nominates abortion rights lawyer in U.S. Supreme Court case to federal judgeship

President Joe Biden on Friday nominated a lawyer who represented the Mississippi clinic at the heart of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision to become a federal appeals court judge. Biden's latest slate of nine new judicial nominees included Julie Rikelman, an abortion rights lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights whom the president picked to serve on the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

California can’t impose ‘sprawling’ enviro regulations on Tribes’ casino plans

California cannot seek environmental concessions from five Native American Tribes during negotiations to renew their contracts to operate “Las Vegas style” casinos, a federal appeals court held. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday the state violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) by demanding nearly 30 pages’ worth of “sprawling” environmental regulations, as well as tort and family-law changes with no direct relation to gaming activities.

U.S. judge rejects parts of Boy Scouts' $2.7 billion sex abuse deal

A U.S. judge on Friday rejected key aspects of the Boy Scouts of America's reorganization plan and its underlying sex abuse settlement, delaying the national youth organization's ability to emerge from bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein in Wilmington, Delaware, ruled she could not approve all aspects of the plan and settlement, which would establish a $2.7 billion trust to compensate more than 80,000 men who say they were sexually abused as children by troop leaders.

NY Gov. Hochul declares state emergency over monkeypox

The governor of the State of New York Kathy Hochul late on Friday declared an emergency in the state over the continued spread of monkeypox. "I am declaring a State Disaster Emergency to strengthen our ongoing efforts to confront the monkeypox outbreak," Hochul tweeted. https://bit.ly/3oFYEMB

Top House Republican McCarthy doesn't recall Jan. 6 talk with Hutchinson

U.S. House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said on Friday he does not remember urging then-White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to prevent Donald Trump from coming to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, despite her sworn testimony to the contrary. Hutchinson - the star witness in a televised hearing before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on Congress by Trump supporters - testified under oath that a "frustrated and angry" McCarthy called her that day after President Trump announced at a nearby rally that he would join in a march to the Capitol.

U.S. House passes, sends to Senate assault-style weapon ban

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation banning assault-style rifles that have been used in mass shootings, sending it to the Senate where it faces likely defeat. By a mostly partisan vote of 217-213, Democrats won passage of the measure amid public anger over mass murders in which rapid-fire AR-15 rifles were used to kill and wound school children and adults engaging in day-to-day activities.

Fringe candidates putting Republicans' U.S. Senate hopes at risk

Republican voters' embrace of fringe and divisive candidates is jeopardizing the party's goal of taking control of the U.S. Senate in November's midterm elections, as well as winning key governors' races. Far-right candidates who have echoed former President Donald Trump's spurious stolen-election claims could win primaries in Arizona and Michigan on Tuesday, likely boosting the odds of Democratic victories in those battleground states this fall.

At least 16 die in 'epic' Kentucky floods, including 6 children

The death toll in eastern Kentucky rose to at least 16 on Friday as flooding unleashed by "epic" torrential rainfall swept through homes, washed out roads and pushed rivers over their banks, state authorities said, warning that more fatalities were expected. Police and National Guard troops, including personnel from neighboring states, used helicopters and boats to rescue dozens of people from homes and vehicles in Kentucky's Appalachian coal-mining region. Video from local media showed floodwaters reaching the roofs of houses and turning roads into rivers.

Abortion ban passes West Virginia senate, heads back to house

The Republican-controlled West Virginia senate on Friday passed a bill that would be the first to restrict abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutional right to the procedure. But instead of now going to the governor who has indicated he would sign it, the bill must return to the house, where it passed earlier this week, to reconcile a Senate amendment stripping the possibility of prison time for doctors who perform abortions outside narrow exemptions.

(With inputs from agencies.)