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Lawmakers are especially concerned about the use of AI to creates content that falsely depicts candidates in political advertisements to influence federal elections. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters a day after the AI forum that included technology leaders including Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk, Meta Platforms (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) CEO Sundar Pichai that election AI legislation may need to move faster. "Some things may have to go sooner than others and elections is one of the things that we may have to try to do soonest," Schumer said on Thursday. Experts say the proliferation of AI tools could make it far easier to, for instance, conduct mass hacking campaigns or create fake profiles on social media to spread false information and propaganda. He said it will be "a real challenge" to get agreement on such legislation "on both sides."

Persons: Chuck Schumer, Mike Rounds, Todd Young, Julia Nikhinson, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Schumer, Donald Trump, Amy Klobuchar, Josh Hawley, David Shepardson, Rick Cowan Organizations: Intelligence, U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, Democratic, Republican, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Washington

☆ House Republicans cancel vote to hold FBI director in contempt
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have abandoned plans for a vote on Thursday to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress over agency documents related to an alleged "criminal bribery scheme" involving President Joe Biden. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee had been set to vote over accusations that Wray and his agency refused to provide an unclassified document being sought by the panel's Republicans. Committee Chairman James Comer has said the document relates to "a trusted, highly credible informant" with information that Biden was "involved in a criminal bribery scheme." The White House has said Biden has not committed any wrongdoing and has accused Comer of spreading "thin innuendo to try to damage the president politically." Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Rick Cowan; Editing by Eric Beech and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Joe Biden, Wray, James Comer, Biden, Comer, Dan Whitcomb, Rick Cowan, Eric Beech, Gerry Doyle Organizations: U.S . House, Republicans, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Battle over Biden labor nominee Julie Su heats up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Julie Su applauds while being nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden to serve as the Labor secretary during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 1, 2023. Crucial senators in Montana, West Virginia and Arizona, who voted for Su to become deputy Labor Secretary in 2021, are on the fence about her confirmation for the top job. The AFL-CIO will target Montana, West Virginia, Arizona and Maine, communicating support for Su to its members to get them to contact their state senators. A spokesperson for Maine's Republican Senator Susan Collins said she does not support Su's nomination. She voted no on Su's deputy secretary nomination in 2021, as did all Republicans.

☆ U.S. House Republicans pursue impeachment of Biden border official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Representative Andy Biggs, from the border state of Arizona, said he would file articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom many Republicans blame for what they say are lax border policies. The impeachment push could find support in the Republican-controlled House but is unlikely to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Still, it could increase pressure on the Biden administration as it balances pledges to restore asylum access with record crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. A top Biden border official stepped down in November after saying he had been urged to leave by Mayorkas. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in November called on Mayorkas to step down, saying Republicans could impeach him if he did not.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the storm's confirmed death toll climbed to 13 on Sunday, up from three reported overnight in the Buffalo region. The latest victims included some found in cars and some in snow banks, Poloncarz said, adding that the death tally would likely rise further. New York Governor Kathy Hochul called it an "epic, once-in-a-lifetime" weather disaster that ranked as the fiercest winter storm to hit the greater Buffalo area since a crippling 1977 blizzard that killed nearly 30 people. RESCUING THE RESCUERSThe latest blizzard came nearly six weeks after a record-setting but shorter-lived lake-effect storm struck western New York. [1/9] A snow plow is left stranded on the road following a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region on Main St. in Amherst, New York, U.S., December 25, 2022.

☆ Deadly blizzard, deemed worst in 45 years, paralyzes greater Buffalo, N.Y.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Gabriella Borter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Vehicles are left stranded on the road following a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region in Amherst, New York, U.S., December 25, 2022. The greater Buffalo region, lying at the edge of Lake Erie near the Canadian border was one of the hardest-hit places. The governor called it an "epic, once-in-a-lifetime" weather disaster that ranked as the fiercest winter storm to hit Buffalo, New York state's second-largest city, since a crippling 1977 blizzard that killed nearly 30 people. The latest blizzard, which initially overwhelmed emergency crews, came nearly six weeks after a record-setting but shorter-lived lake-effect storm struck western New York. He said one electrical substation knocked offline was sealed off by an 18-foot-tall mound of snow, and utility crews found the entire facility frozen inside.

[1/6] Hoak's restaurant is covered in ice from the spray of Lake Erie waves during a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region in Hamburg, New York, U.S. December 24, 2022. Twenty-eight people have died so far in weather-related incidents across the country, according to an NBC News tally. The Buffalo airport had recorded 43 inches (109 cm) of snow as of 7 a.m ET (1200 GMT) on Sunday, Otto said. "Another one to two feet in general before Monday morning in the Buffalo area is expected," Otto said. "I guess you can say in some ways, the worst of it is over but there's still some pretty significant snowfall that's ongoing around the Buffalo region today."

The climate bill that favors domestic production could possibly restrict trade, European countries say. Europe's industry fears that the bill, which gives tax credit for each eligible renewable energy component produced in a U.S. factory, would take away potential investment from the continent. The IRA, which was signed into law in August, also provides a tax credit of 30% of the cost of new or upgraded factories that build renewable energy components. "We're going to continue to create manufacturing jobs in America but not at the expense of Europe," Biden said. Biden in August signed the $52.7 billion semiconductor chips manufacturing subsidy and research law, which subsidizes U.S. chip manufacturing and expands research funding.

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