Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The district attorney, Democrat Alvin Bragg, had earlier this week appealed a lower court's ruling that the Republican-led House of Representatives committee may depose Mark Pomerantz, who led the Trump probe before resigning in February 2022. US Homeland security chief creating artificial intelligence task force U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that the agency would create a task force to figure out how to use artificial intelligence to do everything from protecting critical infrastructure to screening cargo to ferret out products made with slave labor.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. food banks warn of strain as Republicans seek food aid cuts

Food banks across the United States are straining to meet spiking demand as high food costs and shrinking federal benefits drive scores of Americans to depend on free groceries, just as Republicans seek to narrow access to food assistance. President Joe Biden, who this week criticized Republicans' proposals to further cut benefits in order to shrink the country's deficit, pledged last year to end hunger in the U.S. by 2030.

Smart gun operating on facial recognition goes on sale in US

Colorado-based Biofire Tech is taking orders for a smart gun enabled by facial-recognition technology, the latest development in personalized weapons that can only be fired by verified users. But in a sign of the long, challenging road that smart guns have faced, a prototype twice failed to fire when demonstrated for Reuters this week. Company founder and Chief Executive Kai Kloepfer said the software and electronics have been fully tested, and the failure was related to the mechanical gun which was made from pre-production and prototype parts.

Trump ally Jordan urges court to allow deposition of ex-prosecutor

U.S. Representative Jim Jordan, one of Donald Trump's staunchest allies in Congress, on Friday urged an appeals court to let his House Judiciary Committee depose a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's criminal probe of the former U.S. president. The district attorney, Democrat Alvin Bragg, had earlier this week appealed a lower court's ruling that the Republican-led House of Representatives committee may depose Mark Pomerantz, who led the Trump probe before resigning in February 2022.

US Homeland security chief creating artificial intelligence task force

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that the agency would create a task force to figure out how to use artificial intelligence to do everything from protecting critical infrastructure to screening cargo to ferret out products made with slave labor. While artificial intelligence isn't new, the sudden popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT in recent months has sent officials around the world scrambling to see how they can best use the technology for good and prevent it from turbocharging disinformation and criminal activity.

'Rust' charges against Alec Baldwin formally dismissed

New Mexico special prosecutors on Friday dropped charges against actor Alec Baldwin in the 2021 shooting death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, marking what many legal analysts said was a logical conclusion to a flawed prosecution.

The move followed new evidence about the gun Baldwin was holding when it fired the bullet that killed Hutchins during the movie's filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a person close to state prosecutors said.

Biden signs executive order on 'environmental justice'

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order directing every single federal agency to work toward "environmental justice for all" and improve the lives of communities hit hardest by toxic pollution and climate change. The order will establish a new Office of Environmental Justice within the White House to coordinate efforts across the government, and requires federal agencies to notify communities if toxic substances are released from a federal facility.

Right-wing radio host Elder announces 2024 Republican presidential bid

Right-wing U.S. radio host Larry Elder, a Black lawyer who has denied there is systemic racism in America, has announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. "America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can bring us there," Elder said in a Twitter post late on Thursday.

U.S. Supreme Court preserves broad access to abortion pill

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday blocked new restrictions set by lower courts on a widely used abortion pill, delivering a victory to President Joe Biden's administration as it defends broad access to the drug in the latest fierce legal battle over reproductive rights in the United States. The justices, in a brief order, granted emergency requests by the Justice Department and the pill's manufacturer Danco Laboratories to put on hold an April 7 preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas. The judge's order would greatly limit the availability of mifepristone while litigation proceeds in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to its federal regulatory approval.

As DeSantis stumbles, anti-Trump Republicans fear a rerun in 2024 campaign

Current and former Republican Party operatives who have spent years trying to banish Donald Trump from American political life say the former president's 2024 campaign has begun to gain so much steam that they fear he is by far the favorite to become the party's presidential nominee again. While the party's nomination race is still in its early days, the angst among "Never Trumpers" -- a small group of Republicans who have opposed Trump since he was first elected in 2016 -- is a sign the former president could be gaining momentum over his top potential rival Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

Guantanamo inmates showing signs of 'accelerated ageing' - ICRC

Inmates who have been held for years in the Guantanamo Bay U.S. detention facility in Cuba are showing signs of "accelerated ageing", a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday. "We're calling on the U.S. administration and Congress to work together to find adequate and sustainable solutions to address these issues," said Patrick Hamilton, the ICRC's head of delegation for the United States and Canada.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)