Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New York to deploy 750 National Guard soldiers to check bags on subway

New York Governor Kathy Hochul will deploy 750 soldiers from the state's National Guard to help New York City police check commuters' bags in the busiest stations in the city's sprawling subway system, she announced on Wednesday. Another 250 officers from the New York State Police and the state-controlled Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police will also join the effort, which Hochul said was intended to deter crime. She announced the deployment in response to recent high-profile assaults on commuters and transit workers.

Jury finds armorer guilty in fatal 'Rust' shooting

A New Mexico jury on Wednesday found "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter, ending a trial over Hollywood's first on-set fatal shooting in nearly 30 years. Ten days of testimony had focused on whether the relatively inexperienced armorer endangered fellow crew and cast members in her handling and supervision of firearms on the low-budget production set in New Mexico.

From dutiful to defiant: The evolution of Nikki Haley's failed presidential campaign

For much of her 2024 presidential campaign, Nikki Haley spoke fondly of serving under former President Donald Trump for two years as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump, she often told voters, was "the right president at the right time."

US Supreme Court sets April 25 Trump criminal immunity argument

The U.S. Supreme Court has set April 25 as the date it will hear Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity from prosecution on charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss - the last day of oral arguments of its current term. The court released its updated argument calendar a week after it agreed to take up the case and gave the former president a boost by putting on hold the criminal prosecution being pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith. It previously had disclosed which week it would hear the matter but had not given the precise date.

US House Republicans ask Hunter Biden to testify in open March 20 hearing

A Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives committee asked President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden to testify in an open hearing on March 20, as it continues its impeachment probe of his father, the panel said in a Wednesday statement. The House Oversight Committee has focused on Hunter Biden's work for businesses based in countries such as Ukraine and China while his father served as U.S. vice president from 2009 to 2017. So far they have turned up no evidence of wrongdoing by the elder Biden, even as they have highlighted his son's struggles with substance abuse.

Dean Phillips ends 2024 challenge to Biden with endorsement

U.S. congressman Dean Phillips ended his long-shot challenge to President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary on Wednesday after failing to win any significant traction among voters with his message that the party needs a younger nominee. "I ran for president in 2024 to resist Donald Trump again - because Americans were demanding an alternative, and democracy demands options," the Minnesota representative said in a statement. "But it is clear that alternative is not me."

Trump got the voters on Super Tuesday, but his cash-hungry campaign needs more donors

Donald Trump had no shortage of votes in the Super Tuesday presidential primary. He swept to victory in an abundance of states. But as his legal fees and payouts balloon, Trump must pursue another constituency as he prepares for a general election matchup with President Joe Biden: Major donors.

Small donors have historically helped propel Trump, but over$540 million in legal payouts and millions more in legal fees together are putting the squeeze on him as he faces a long campaign through to the Nov. 5 election.

Nikki Haley ends White House bid, clearing path for a Trump-Biden rematch

Nikki Haley ended her long-shot challenge to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Wednesday, ensuring the former president will be the party's candidate in a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November's election. Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, bowed out a day after Super Tuesday, when Trump beat her soundly in 14 of 15 Republican nominating contests.

Special visa program for US-affiliated Afghans faces demise

A program that resettles in the United States Afghans who worked with the U.S. government could grind to a halt later this year, stranding tens of thousands at risk of Taliban retribution following the 2021 U.S. troop pullout from Afghanistan. The congressionally-authorized limit of 38,500 Special Immigration Visas (SIVs), which offer a path to U.S. citizenship, is expected to be reached sometime around the August anniversary of the withdrawal, and it looks unlikely that the divided U.S. Congress will approve a Biden administration request for 20,000 more.

Biden to call for expanding Medicare drug negotiation program

President Joe Biden will call on Congress to expand the number of drugs subject to annual Medicare price negotiations in his State of the Union address on Thursday, the White House said. The negotiation program, passed as part of 2022's Inflation Reduction Act, empowers Medicare to use its vast size to bargain with pharmaceutical companies to lower prices of expensive drugs for Medicare participants, who are age 65 and older.