US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. House Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe to consider Trump criminal referral; As climate change makes wildfires worse, FEMA faced with calls to change and more

U.S. border cities are bracing for an influx of asylum seekers after a U.S. judge in November moved to strike down a policy enacted by the Trump administration in 2020 that has allowed migration authorities to rapidly send asylum seekers back to Mexico and other countries. Three dozen injured when flight to Hawaii hits severe turbulence, reports say Some three dozen people were injured, 11 of them seriously, on Sunday when a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Honolulu was hit by severe turbulence, local media reported.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. House Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe to consider Trump criminal referral

The U.S. House of Representatives committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters moves to wrap up its work this week with what could be as many as three criminal referrals against the former president. The Democratic-led panel has spent 18 months probing the unprecedented attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by thousands of backers of the Republican president, inspired by Trump's false claims that his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud.

As climate change makes wildfires worse, FEMA faced with calls to change

Five years after wildfire ravaged the California wine country city of Santa Rosa, only mud and a concrete pad remain atop a hill where a fire station once sat. Fire Chief Scott Westrope, who lost his own home in the fire, said a priority was rebuilding Fire Station 5, which burned to the ground in the inferno that wiped out more than 5,600 structures and killed 22 people.

Keystone cleanup turns remote Kansas valley into a small town

Farmer Bill Pannbacker got a call earlier this month from a representative from TC Energy Corp, telling him that its Keystone Pipeline, which runs through his farmland in rural Kansas, had suffered an oil leak. But he was not prepared for what he saw on his land, which he owns with his wife, Chris. Oil had shot out of the pipeline and coated what he estimated was nearly an acre of pasture uphill of the pipe, which is set into a valley.

Biden comes under pressure over expected easing of U.S. asylum rules

U.S. lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, on Sunday pressed Democratic President Joe Biden to take action to manage an expected wave of asylum seekers at America's southern border when COVID-era restrictions are set to end this week. U.S. border cities are bracing for an influx of asylum seekers after a U.S. judge in November moved to strike down a policy enacted by the Trump administration in 2020 that has allowed migration authorities to rapidly send asylum seekers back to Mexico and other countries.

Three dozen injured when flight to Hawaii hits severe turbulence, reports say

Some three dozen people were injured, 11 of them seriously, on Sunday when a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Honolulu was hit by severe turbulence, local media reported. Emergency responders treated 36 patients, with 11 people taken to local hospitals in serious condition, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Vatican dismisses Trump-supporting, anti-abortion leader from priesthood

Father Frank Pavone, a leader of the U.S. anti-abortion movement and a strong supporter of former president Donald Trump, has been dismissed from the Catholic priesthood for "blasphemous" social media posts and disobedience to bishops. The Vatican defrocked Pavone in November, according to a letter sent to U.S. bishops from its ambassador to Washington. The letter, seen by Reuters, says Pavone will not be allowed to appeal.

El Paso mayor declares state of emergency over influx of migrants from Mexico border

The mayor of the Texas border city of El Paso declared a state of emergency on Saturday, citing the hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures and the thousands being apprehended every day. Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, said the emergency declaration would give city authorities the resources and ability to shelter migrants who have crossed the Mexican border.

U.S. Congress aims to pack additional measures into government funding bill

The U.S. Congress faces a tricky task this week as lawmakers try to use a $1.7 trillion government funding bill to also address other priorities, including tweaks to election rules, reforms to drug sentencing and a ban on TikTok from government-owned devices. Democrats and Republicans alike aim to tuck as many legislative wish-list items as possible into the "omnibus" bill funding the government through the end of its fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2023, without derailing the whole package.

Why college coaches are a hot employee benefit

When Jenny Rosenberger’s daughter started thinking about college, she felt what a lot of parents in America do: Totally overwhelmed. The senior vice president for Bank of America in Newark, Delaware, took one look at the application process – with its mountains of options, paperwork, and opaque admissions criteria – and didn’t quite know how to attack it all.

Exclusive-Probe of Musk's Neuralink to scrutinize long-criticized U.S animal welfare regulator

Law enforcement officials investigating Elon Musk's Neuralink Corp over its animal trial program are also scrutinizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s oversight of the company's operations, after the agency failed to act on violations at other research organizations, according to several people familiar with the matter. Reuters reported on Dec. 5 that the USDA's watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, is investigating Neuralink, a medical device company that is developing brain implants, over potential animal-welfare violations. A federal prosecutor in the civil division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California requested the probe, people familiar with the matter said.