Reuters US Domestic News Summary

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. 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.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Top US Senate Republican McConnell to serve out term despite health concerns

Top U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday he plans to serve the rest of his two-year term as party leader and his full six-year term in office, allowing for the possibility that he would step down from leadership before leaving office. KEY QUOTE

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.

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 administration. Trump's Republican administration issued the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) seven leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a day before the inauguration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat who had pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre (7.7 million hectares) habitat 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.

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.

Trump found liable for defamation in writer Carroll's second lawsuit

A federal judge on Wednesday found Donald Trump liable for defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll by denying in 2019 that he had raped her, and said jurors will decide only how much the former U.S. president should pay in damages. The decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan comes ahead of a scheduled Jan. 15, 2024, civil trial, after a jury in May ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million for sexual assault and a separate defamation.

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.