Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Texas power plants back online, but 325,000 households still in the dark

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Thursday that all power generating plants in the state were back online but hundreds of thousands of homes remain without energy because of downed lines and other issues after a ferocious winter storm. Some 325,000 households still do not have power, down from 2.7 million on Wednesday, and more than 13 million Texans are seeing interruptions in their water services. After blizzard of criticism over Mexico trip, Senator Ted Cruz flies back to frozen Texas

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz flew into a storm of criticism on Thursday after leaving his home state of Texas in the grips of a deadly deep freeze, for a family holiday jaunt to the Mexican resort city of Cancun he said he took to please his young daughters. After his travels were reported, the 50-year-old Republican lawmaker prepared to board a flight home while his Senate office issued a statement saying he was continuing to work for his constituents. Analysis: Exodus of Republican voters tired of Trump could push party further right

A surge of Republicans quitting the party to renounce Donald Trump after the deadly Capitol riot could hurt moderates in next year's primaries, adding a capstone to Trump's legacy as president: A potentially lasting rightward push on the party. More than 68,000 Republicans have left the party in recent weeks in Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, crucial states for Democrats' hopes of keeping control of Congress in the mid-term elections in 2022, state voter data shows. Former U.S. Senator Dole says he has lung cancer

Former U.S. Republican Senator Bob Dole, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1996, said on Thursday that he has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and will undergo treatment beginning next week. "Recently, I was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer....while I certainly have some hurdles ahead, I also know that I join millions of Americans who face significant health challenges of their own," Dole, 97, said in a Twitter posting. U.S. immigration agents ordered to focus on serious criminals, recent border crossers

The U.S. government issued interim guidance on Thursday sharply limiting who can be arrested and deported by immigration agents, a move that comes as the Biden administration faces growing pressure from activists to scale back deportations. The guidelines instruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to focus on immigrants deemed national security and public safety threats and those who entered the United States after Nov. 1, 2020. Agents will need pre-approval from a senior manager if they want to arrest someone who does not fall into one of those categories. Texas governor asks legislature to mandate winterization of generators

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday said he has asked the state legislature to mandate the winterization of generators, after a deep freeze knocked out power to millions of Texans this week. Abbott said he also called for the funding needed to ensure that winterization and modernization occurs. 'I just ask God to help me': Texas funeral home crushed by death as U.S. COVID toll nears 500,000

Sunday is traditionally a quiet day for Chuck Pryor's Houston funeral home, but on this Sunday in February, almost a year after the global pandemic reached Texas, the phone was still ringing. Pryor took the call: COVID-19 had taken yet another American life -- pushing the nation's death toll closer to the half-million mark -- and another grieving family required the services of the exhausted funeral director and his staff. Pro-Trump women's group cannot paint mural on NYC streets, judge rules

A conservative women's group cannot paint its own mural on New York City streets even after Mayor Bill de Blasio allowed a yellow "Black Lives Matter" mural to be painted outside Trump Tower, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield said Women for America First, a supporter of Republican former President Donald Trump, did not show that the city violated its First Amendment rights in rejected its mural "Engaging, Inspiring and Empowering Women to Make a Difference!" Two people found dead after Dallas police shot responding to call

Two people were found dead at a Dallas home on Thursday after two police officers were shot responding to a "major disturbance" call. The two officers, who are in a stable condition in hospital, were dispatched to the residence in Old Dallas East about 11 a.m. after receiving information that a man had threatened to hurt his wife and reports of shots fired. Democrats roll out Biden immigration bill without Republican backers

Democrats on Thursday formally introduced President Joe Biden's sweeping immigration bill in Congress, a measure that would provide a path to U.S. citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, but which faces long odds to passage. The bill would greatly increase both family-based and employment-based legal immigration and allow certain previously deported immigrants to apply to return for humanitarian reasons. Key elements of the legislation were first unveiled in January.

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