Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. Supreme Court justices appear unlikely to throw out Obamacare

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled they are unlikely to strike down the Obamacare healthcare law in a legal challenge brought by Texas and 17 other Republican-governed states and joined by President Donald Trump's administration. Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Brett Kavanaugh indicated skepticism during two hours of arguments in the case toward the stance by the Republican challengers that the entire law must fall if a single key provision, called the individual mandate, is deemed unconstitutional. Explainer: Why recounts rarely change the results of U.S. elections

U.S. President Donald Trump hopes a recount of votes will help keep President-elect Joe Biden out of the White House, but as common as recounts may be, especially for state and local candidates, only three in the last two decades have changed the result and none for a presidential election. Here's how recounts work and the impact they have had: Republican Senator Tillis clinches reelection as Cunningham concedes

Democrat Cal Cunningham, who had been considered the leader for a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina until his campaign was undermined by a sex scandal, on Tuesday conceded the closely fought contest to Republican incumbent Thom Tillis. Edison Research also called the race for Tillis. The result essentially confirms that control of the Senate -- and with it the power to support or block much of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's agenda -- will be decided in a pair of Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia. Trump campaign to file lawsuit asking that Michigan election results not be certified

Republican President Donald Trump's campaign said on Tuesday it would file a lawsuit in Michigan requesting the results of the U.S. election in the state not be certified until it could be verified that votes were cast lawfully. Nearly 80% of Americans say Biden won White House, ignoring Trump's refusal to concede: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Nearly 80% of Americans, including more than half of Republicans, recognize President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the Nov. 3 election after most media organizations called the race for the Democrat based on his leads in critical battleground states, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Biden - who needed 270 Electoral College votes to win - had 279 of those votes to 214 for Trump with results in three states not yet complete, according to Edison Research. In the popular vote, Biden got 76.3 million, or 50.7% of the total, to 71.6 million, or 47.6%, for Trump. U.S. Republicans hint at limited time for Trump to make his post-election case

Top Republicans in the U.S. Congress for now are supporting President Donald Trump's attempt to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's victory, but some senior aides said Trump must soon produce significant evidence or exit the stage. A handful of Republican senators have said they recognize Biden as last week's winner. Many more have not but are suggesting limits to their patience in giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. New York City to try responding to mental health calls without police

Mental health and crisis workers in New York City will respond to emergency mental health calls instead of law enforcement under a pilot program announced on Tuesday, following months of protests around the country over police brutality. The program, slated to begin in February, will be composed of new mental health teams from the Fire Department's Emergency Medical Services unit and will target two "high-need" neighborhoods, which were not identified. Trump mounts legal assault as Barr authorizes probes of vote irregularities

President Donald Trump will push ahead on Tuesday with legal challenges to the results of last week's election after U.S. Attorney General William Barr told federal prosecutors to look into any "substantial" allegations of voting irregularities. Barr's directive to prosecutors prompted the top lawyer overseeing voter fraud investigations to resign in protest. It came after days of attacks on the integrity of the election by Trump and Republican allies, who have alleged widespread voter fraud, without providing evidence. Hospitalizations soar in California as COVID-19 pandemic surges

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in California has risen by 32% over the past two weeks, and intensive care admissions have spiked by 30% as the pandemic surges across the United States, the state's Health and Human Services secretary said on Tuesday. Dr. Mark Ghaly said three counties that are home to about 5.5 million people - San Diego, Sacramento and Stanislaus - must reverse their reopening plans and go back to the most restrictive category of regulations aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. After Esper firing, White House moves Trump loyalists into key Pentagon jobs

A day after President Donald Trump fired his defense secretary, the White House installed a Trump loyalist in a key Pentagon post on Tuesday and promoted another one who has falsely called former President Barack Obama a terrorist. Trump announced his dismissal of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Twitter on Monday, signaling he may use his final months in office to settle scores within his administration.