US Domestic News Roundup: Witness in Trump documents case reached deal with prosecutors, ex-attorney says; U.S. judge orders Texas to move Rio Grande barriers to embankment, siding with Biden and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Witness in Trump documents case reached deal with prosecutors, ex-attorney says

A key witness in the case accusing former U.S. President Donald Trump of mishandling classified documents after leaving office has entered into a deal with prosecutors to provide testimony, his former attorney said in a Wednesday court filing.

The deal was reached after U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office threatened to prosecute the witness, who is the head of information technology at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida resort, for lying to a grand jury, the attorney, Stanley Woodward, said in the filing.

U.S. judge orders Texas to move Rio Grande barriers to embankment, siding with Biden

A U.S. judge ordered Texas to move floating buoys that were placed in the middle of the Rio Grande to block migrants from illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, a tentative win for President Joe Biden, whose administration sued the state. U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction in Austin that requires Texas to relocate the buoys, currently near the city of Eagle Pass, to an embankment on the Texas side of the river by Sept. 15. The Biden administration argued in a legal challenge that the 1,000-foot (305-meter) barrier illegally disrupts navigation and was installed without permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

US FCC chair says China's Quectel, Fibocom may pose national security risks

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked U.S. government agencies to consider declaring that Chinese companies including Quectel and Fibocom Wireless pose unacceptable national security risks, according to letters seen by Reuters. The Republican chair of the House of Representatives China Select Committee, Mike Gallagher, and the top Democrat on the panel Raja Krishnamoorthi, asked the FCC last month to consider adding to its so-called "Covered List" the two companies that produce cellular modules that enable internet of things (IoT) devices to connect to the internet.

US to cancel Alaska oil, gas leases issued under Trump

The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said it would cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state development agency in the final days of former President Donald Trump's term. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre (7.9 million-hectare) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for polar bears and caribou.

Judge in Trump Georgia election case 'very skeptical' of trying all defendants together

A Georgia judge on Wednesday said he was “very skeptical” that Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants could stand trial together as soon as next month in a sprawling criminal case accusing them of conspiring to reverse the former U.S. president’s 2020 election loss. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee gave prosecutors 10 days to explain how they “could possibly keep these defendants together” with a mountain of outstanding legal questions and a looming speedy trial deadline next month for defendants who have demanded one.

Detroit UAW workers strike threat tests Biden's plan to win union votes

U.S. President Joe Biden's strategy of backing politically crucial unions while avoiding strikes that cripple the economy has hit a bump in Detroit. During a summer of labor unrest, Biden has touted his pro-labor policies by speaking out for unions, while his administration behind the scenes tries to smooth the way for deals with employers to avoid costly walkouts, union leaders and administration officials said.

US Senate confirms Jefferson as Fed vice chair, Cook to new term on board

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Philip Jefferson as vice chair of the Federal Reserve in an 88-10 vote that signaled broad bipartisan support for the U.S. central bank's second-in-command as policymakers near a potential watershed moment in their battle against inflation. Senators also confirmed Fed Governor Lisa Cook to a fresh 14-year term at the central bank, though they did so in a 51-47 vote that broke along partisan lines.

US prosecutors to seek Hunter Biden indictment by Sept. 29 -court filing

U.S. prosecutors said in a court filing on Wednesday they will seek an indictment of President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, by Sept. 29 in his tax and firearms case. David Weiss, who was appointed U.S. special counsel by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in August, said in a court filing that the government would seek a grand jury indictment before the Sept. 29 deadline under the Speedy Trial Act.

Biden rejects conditions of plea deal for Sept. 11 attacks defendants

U.S. President Joe Biden has rejected several conditions sought by five Guantanamo Bay prisoners as part of a deal with federal prosecutors that would see them plead guilty to conspiring in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. The five defendants, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al Qaeda militant accused by the U.S. of being the principal architect of the attacks, have been offered a plea agreement by prosecutors that would spare them the death penalty in exchange for admitting guilt and a life prison term, the Times reported.

Judge rejects Trump bid to delay New York fraud trial

A New York state judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's bid to delay a scheduled Oct. 2 trial in state Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud lawsuit accusing him, family members and his business of overvaluing assets by billions of dollars. Trump and the other defendants had said the trial should be "briefly" delayed until three weeks after Justice Arthur Engoron ruled on both sides' requests for summary judgments, which seek victory on various legal issues without the need for a trial.