US Domestic News Roundup: California's fire season under way weeks after heavy rain and snow; Biden attacks news outlets for 'lies of conspiracy and malice' and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

California's fire season under way weeks after heavy rain and snow

Barely five weeks after the last bout of heavy rain and snow in California's historically wet winter, firefighters on Friday battled the state's first large wildfire of the year in rugged foothills east of Los Angeles. The Nob fire has scorched some 200 acres of brush and grass in the San Bernardino National Forest since erupting on Wednesday, with 25% of the blaze's perimeter contained by Thursday night, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Biden attacks news outlets for 'lies of conspiracy and malice'

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday, in a possible preview of a 2024 presidential campaign theme, attacked news outlets he said used "lies told for profit and power" to stir up hatred in the United States, as he coupled his remarks with pointed jokes about Fox News. Speaking at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Biden referred to "truth buried by lies," in an apparent reference to false conspiracy theories that his 2020 election win was the result of a massive voter fraud.

Montana governor signs bill banning transgender medical care for youths

Montana's governor on Friday enacted a Republican-backed ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender children, days after a transgender lawmaker protesting the bill was barred from the floor of the state legislature, sparking a national furor. The Republican House majority voted to censure Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat, on Wednesday, excluding her from the House chamber for the rest of the legislative session for saying on April 18 that lawmakers backing the bill would have blood on their hands.

Five people shot dead in Texas home after noise complaint, police say

A man shot dead five neighbors including an 8-year-old boy after some of them had asked him to stop shooting a semiautomatic rifle in his front yard in Cleveland, Texas, because it was keeping their baby awake, police said on Saturday. Police were still looking for the suspect, who used an AR-15-style rifle in the shooting late inside the neighbors' home on Friday, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said.

Biden takes his re-election pitch to financial backers

U.S. President Joe Biden made his pitch for re-election on Friday night to a small group that may prove essential to his candidacy: the wealthy. Biden, who launched his bid for the 2024 presidential election in a video posted online on Tuesday, gathered fewer than 200 of the top donors and volunteer fundraisers from his last bid for office at the five-star Salamander hotel in Washington.

Michael Cohen seeks damages from Trump, U.S. over prison return

Michael Cohen on Monday asked a U.S. appeals court to revive his lawsuit against Donald Trump and other government officials, seeking damages for sending him back to prison in retaliation for publishing a tell-all memoir criticizing the former U.S. president. Lawyers for Cohen said in a filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that the judiciary has a responsibility to remediate the harm done by Trump and his subordinates.

Judge declines to block Colorado from banning medication abortion reversal

A federal judge in Denver on Friday rejected a Catholic medical center's bid to block Colorado from banning an unproven treatment meant to reverse the effects of a medication abortion drug. U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico said there was no need to block the first-of-its-kind ban because the state has said it will not enforce it for now, meaning that the center, Bella Health and Wellness, is not under any immediate threat. He did not address the merits of the case.

Biden admin seeks to pause order blocking Obamacare preventive care mandate

The Biden administration has asked a federal appeals court to put on hold a judge's ruling striking down the Affordable Care Act's mandate that insurers cover preventive care, including screenings for certain cancers and pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV (PrEP), at no extra cost to patients. In a filing Thursday evening with the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Justice Department said the order, from U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, "has no legal justification and threatens the public health." It asked the court to stop the order from taking effect until it can fully hear the administration's appeal.

Amid concerns about TikTok, Commerce details effort to secure U.S. data

The Biden administration outlined efforts this week to address growing U.S. national security concerns on foreign companies' handling of Americans' data. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at a U.S. Senate hearing the department is working "to secure our communications and technology networks and we are right now in the process of hiring a team to do monitoring, investigation and enforcement."

Women state senators cross party lines to block proposed South Carolina abortion ban

A day after all five women in the South Carolina state senate banded together to block a proposed abortion ban, Republican Senator Sandy Senn posted a picture of the group on her Facebook page calling the three Republicans, one Democrat and one Independent "united and unstoppable." The senators came together across parties on Thursday to force any discussion of the near-total ban into 2024, their success the latest indication that not all Republicans agree with the strictest abortion bans.

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