★★ My Country, 'Tis of Thee mikepasini.com
A S C R A P B O O K O F R E P O R T I N G O N T H E C O U N T R Y
Thursday
15 Jan 2026
UPDATED
Thu 8:23 am PST
My country, 'tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty,
of thee I sing:
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside
let freedom ring!
No more shall tyrants here
With haughty steps appear,
And soldier bands;
No more shall tyrants tread
Above the patriot dead—
No more our blood be shed
By alien hands.
Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees
sweet freedom's song:
let mortal tongues awake,
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break,
the sound prolong.
Samuel Smith
1831
Beyond the headlines, these interviews and reports detail what's going on now in the United States. And how that affects all of us. A brief intro follows the head that takes you directly to the story, video or audio recording.
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November January D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 5
In One Year, Trump Pivots Fentanyl Response From Public Health to Drug WarNPR Morning Edition
BRIAN MANN
ReportingIn his first year back in office, President Trump reshaped U.S. drug policy and the response to fentanyl deaths in sweeping, often chaotic fashion, rapidly dismantling efforts launched by the Biden administration aimed at expanding drug treatment. Many experts credit Biden-era public health policies with saving tens of thousands of lives. But with new laws, executive orders, budget cuts and military redeployments, Trump pivoted the nation from those strategies to a militarized drug war.
Dance Company Director Talks About Decision to Cancel Upcoming Kennedy Center DatesNPR Morning Edition
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingNPR's A Martinez speaks with choreographer Doug Varone about his decision to cancel upcoming performances by his dance company at the Kennedy Center.
'She Has No Expertise': The U.S. Medical Community Girds for Tracy Beth Høeg's Tenure at the FDAThe Guardian
MELODY SCHREIBER
ReportingAs the U.S. continues making unprecedented changes to its vaccination recommendations, one figure appears unexpectedly: Tracy Beth Høeg, a Danish American sports physician and epidemiologist who first made her name casting doubt on Covid vaccines in the pandemic and has focused upon possible deaths after Covid vaccination in her short tenure at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Health officials planned to announce radical changes to the childhood vaccine schedule earlier this month, aligning the U.S. with Denmark's immunization schedule, sources say, a major change that would put the U.S. out of step with much of the world with no evidence for benefit. The announcement has been postponed until the new year. Instead of Vinay Prasad, the top vaccines chief, Høeg is listed to speak at the event. She was recently named acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the fifth person to lead the center this year. Høeg has frequently advocated for ending some childhood vaccine recommendations in the U.S. in order to be more similar to Denmark, a nation with universal health coverage and a population roughly the size of Wisconsin's.
Democrat Renee Hardman Wins Iowa State Senate Seat, Blocking GOP From Reclaiming a SupermajorityThe Associated Press
HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
HANNAH FINGERHUT
ReportingDemocrat Renee Hardman was elected to the Iowa state Senate on Tuesday in a year-end special election, denying Republicans from reclaiming two-thirds control of the chamber. Hardman bested Republican Lucas Loftin by an overwhelming margin to win a seat representing parts of the Des Moines suburbs. The seat became vacant after the Oct. 6 death of state Sen. Claire Celsi, a Democrat. Hardman, the CEO of nonprofit Lutheran Services of Iowa and a member of the West Des Moines City Council, becomes the first Black woman elected to the 50-member Senate. "I want to recognize that while my name was the one on the ballot, this race was never just about me," Hardman told a room of supporters in West Des Moines after declaring victory. With 99 percent of votes counted, Hardman led by about 43 percentage points.
Trump Administration Says It's Freezing Child Care Funds to Minnesota After Series of Fraud SchemesThe Associated Press
HALLIE GOLDEN
ReportingPresident Trump's administration announced on Tuesday that it's freezing child care funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some day care centers after a series of fraud schemes involving government programs in recent years. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O'Neill said on the social platform X that the move is in response to "blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country." Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back on X, saying fraudsters are a serious issue that the state has spent years cracking down on but that this move is part of "Trump's long game." "He's politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans," Walz said.
C.I.A. Conducted Drone Strike on Port in VenezuelaThe New York Times
JULIAN E. BARNES
TYLER PAGER
ReportingThe C.I.A. conducted a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela last week, according to people briefed on the operation, a development that suggests an aggressive new phase of the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the Maduro government has begun. The strike was on a dock where U.S. officials believe Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, was storing narcotics and potentially preparing to move the drugs onto boats, the people said. No one was on the dock at the time and no one was killed, they said. But the strike is the first known American operation inside Venezuela.
Under Trump, 317,000 Workers Are Out of the Government. Here Are Three of Their StoriesNPR Morning Edition
ANDREA HSU
ReportingJust one year ago, being a federal employee was a very different proposition: It meant job security with solid benefits, for the most part and the chance to serve the American people. Then in January, President Trump returned to the White House and scrambled those assumptions. Month after month of firings, buyout offers and heightened uncertainty for the federal workforce has led to a mass exodus. By the end of 2025, some 317,000 federal employees will be out of the government, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Tens of thousands were fired. Far more retired or resigned, many out of fear they would lose their jobs if they stuck around.
The DOGE Mindset Is Still Central to the Trump Administration's Agenda as 2025 EndsNPR Morning Edition
STEPHEN FOWLER
ReportingWhile many of DOGE's initial outsized promises to increase efficiency and slash spending never fully materialized, the Trump administration has not given up on those goals. Here's a look back at some of what DOGE did and did not accomplish in its inaugural year and how the Trump administration is calibrating its tactics to make more incremental and less high-profile tweaks to federal agencies.
Non-U.S. Residents Will Soon Have to Pay $100 Surcharge to Enter 11 National ParksNPR Morning Edition
RACHEL COHEN
ReportingStarting Jan. 1, non-U.S. citizens will have to pay an additional $100 each to enter 11 of America's most popular National Parks.
U.S. Judge Halts Ending of Temporary Protected Status for South SudaneseThe Guardian
REUTERS
ReportingA federal judge on Tuesday blocked plans by the Trump administration to end temporary protections from deportation that had been granted to hundreds of South Sudanese nationals living in the United States. U.S. district judge Angel Kelley in Boston granted an emergency request by several South Sudanese nationals and an immigrant rights group to prevent the temporary protected status they had been granted from expiring as planned after January 5.
Democrats Renew Worries About Trump Interfering in the MidtermsThe Associated Press
NICHOLAS RICCARDI
ReportingIf history is a guide, Republicans stand a good chance of losing control of the House of Representatives in 2026. They have just a slim majority in the chamber and the incumbent party usually gives up seats in midterm elections. President Trump, whose loss of the House halfway through his first term led to two impeachments, is trying to keep history from repeating -- and doing so in ways his opponents say are intended to manipulate next year's election landscape.
Kennedy Center Renaming Prompts New Round of Cancellations From ArtistsThe Associated Press
MEG KINNARD
ReportingMore artists have canceled scheduled performances at the Kennedy Center following the addition of President Trump's name to the facility, with jazz supergroup The Cookers pulling out of a planned New Year's Eve concert and the institution's president saying the cancellations belie the artists' unwillingness to see their music as crossing lines of political disparity. The fresh round of cancellations after Trump put his name of the building follows an earlier artist backlash in spring. After Trump ousted the Kennedy Center board and named himself the institution's chairman in February, performer Issa Rae and the producers of "Hamilton" cancelled scheduled engagements while musicians Ben Folds and Renee Flaming stepped down from advisory roles.
Week in Politics: 2025 Politics Overview; A Look Ahead at MidtermsNPR Weekend Edition
SCOTT SIMON
RON ELVING
ReportingPresident Trump began the year with huge plans and a GOP in lockstep, but heading into 2026 there are cracks in his support that could affect how much his administration gets done.
How the U.S. Has Changed Its Approach to Foreign Aid This YearNPR Weekend Edition
FATMA TANIS
SCOTT SIMON
ReportingThis year saw the dismantling of USAID, the United States' premier aid agency. What was the impact and what does the future of U.S. foreign aid look like in the health realm?
Imran Ahmed on Trump's Threat to Deport Him Over 'Censorship' for Countering Online HatePBS News Hour
WILLIAM BRANGHAM
ReportingA federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from detaining or deporting Imran Ahmed. He's a British-born researcher who focuses on countering online hate and misinformation, but the Trump administration accuses him of trying to censor viewpoints he doesn't agree with. Ahmed joined William Brangham to discuss more.
White House Pushes to Dismantle Leading Climate and Weather Research CenterPBS News Hour
WILLIAM BRANGHAM
ReportingThe Trump administration says it plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, which is the nation's premier atmospheric science center. The center was founded in 1960 and has facilitated generations of breakthroughs in climate and weather science. William Brangham discussed the move with climate scientist Kim Cobb and meteorologist Matthew Cappucci.
Where Scientific Research Focused on DEI Stands After a Year of DisruptionAll Things Considered
KATIA RIDDLE
ReportingCuts to scientific research focused disproportionately on research around diversity equity and inclusion. Some researchers say we're just beginning to understand the impact.
ICE Is Deporting Some Immigrants So Quickly, Their Attorneys Are Left ScramblingAll Things Considered
BEENISH AHMED
ReportingImmigrants who are detained by ICE often get deported out of state so quickly that their attorneys don't have time to file petitions to keep them in the state where they were arrested.
What Happened to U.S. Foreign Aid This Year?All Things Considered
G.t EMANUEL
FATMA TANIS
ReportingHistorically, the U.S. had been the top donor for global health. That changed dramatically this year. We look at the new approach the U.S. is pursuing and what this has meant for people on the ground.
Virginia Offshore Wind Developer Sues Over Trump Administration Order Halting ProjectsThe Associated Press
STAFF
ReportingThe developers of a Virginia offshore wind project are asking a federal judge to block a Trump administration order that halted construction of their project, along with four others, over national security concerns. Dominion Energy Virginia said in its lawsuit filed late Tuesday that the government's order is "arbitrary and capricious" and unconstitutional. The Richmond-based company is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, a project it says is essential to meet dramatically growing energy needs driven by dozens of new data centers. The Interior Department did not detail the security concerns in blocking the five projects on Monday.
Facts Clash With Trump Claim of Hitting ISIS and Shielding Nigerian ChristiansThe New York Times
R. M. JAMMEH
ISMAIL AUWAL
ReportingAfter the U.S. military launched airstrikes on sites in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday, President Trump said the targets were Islamic State terrorists "who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians." But analysts say that the situation on the ground is far more complicated. Sokoto State, which was hit by more than 12 Tomahawk missiles Thursday night, is populated overwhelmingly by Muslims, who bear the brunt of terrorist attacks there, according to analysts and groups that monitor conflict. Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto said recently that the area does "not have a problem with persecution" of Christians. And analysts are divided over the existence of ties between insurgent groups in Sokoto and the Islamic State.
Economic Analyst Says Consumer Spending Has Been Resilient Despite UncertaintyNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingNPR's Leila Fadel speaks to an economic analyst for Visa about consumer spending this year and what we could expect going into 2026.
A Look Back at Congress' Tumultuous YearNPR Morning Edition
CLAUDIA GRISALES
LEILA FADEL
ReportingCongress kicked off 2025 with an ambitious agenda, but 12 months later, it has ceded much of its power to President Trump and passed a record low number of bills.
How a Scholar Nudged the Supreme Court Toward Its Troop Deployment RulingThe New York Times
ADAM LIPTAK
ReportingThe Supreme Court's refusal on Tuesday to let the Trump administration deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area was in large part the result of a friend-of-the-court brief submitted by a Georgetown University law professor named Martin S. Lederman. The argument Professor Lederman set out and the court's embrace of it, could help shape future rulings on any further efforts by President Trump to use the military to carry out his orders inside the United States. Professor Lederman's brief said that the government had misunderstood a key phrase in the law it had relied on, which allows deployment of the National Guard if "the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States." The administration said "the regular forces" referred to civilian law enforcement like Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Professor Lederman argued that the great weight of historical evidence was to the contrary.
Kennedy Center Christmas Eve Jazz Concert Canceled After Trump Name Added to BuildingThe Associated Press
HILLEL ITALIE
ReportingA planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition dating back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show's host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance in the wake of the White House announcing last week that President Trump's name would be added to the facility. "When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center Web site and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert," Redd told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has been presiding over holiday "Jazz Jams" at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William "Keter" Betts. The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else and from putting another person's name on the building's exterior.
19 States Sue to Block White House Plan to End Gender-Related Care for MinorsThe New York Times
ORLANDO MAYORQUÍN
CHRIS HIPPENSTEEL
ReportingA coalition of 19 states on Tuesday sued to block the Trump administration's plan to strip federal funding from hospitals providing gender-related care for minors, a policy that would effectively shut down any health care providers that failed to comply. That plan, announced on Thursday by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., would cut off all Medicaid and Medicare payments -- which make up a major share of hospital revenue -- to any facility that provides minors with gender-related treatments in the country. Part of the underpinning of that plan is a declaration by Kennedy that gender-related treatments for minors "fail to meet professional recognized standards of health care." In the suit, the states argue that the declaration is unlawful and a government overreach. "Secretary Kennedy cannot unilaterally change medical standards by posting a document online," Letitia James, attorney general of New York, one of the states in the lawsuit, said in a statement on Tuesday. "And no one should lose access to medically necessary health care because their federal government tried to interfere in decisions that belong in doctors' offices."
The Implications of the Supreme Court Ruling Against Trump in National Guard CaseNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingIn a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked President Trump's bid to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago. NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog about the implications.
Trump Administration Wants to Set Quota for Denaturalizing American CitizensNPR Morning Edition
LILLY QUIROZ
ReportingThe Trump administration says it wants to establish a quota for next year to denaturalize up to 200 a.m.erican citizens per month.
Judge Green Lights New York's Driver's License Law, Rejecting a Trump Administration ChallengeThe Associated Press
MICHAEL R. SISAK
ReportingU.S. District Judge Anne M. Nardacci in Albany gave a green light Tuesday to New York's so-called Green Light Law, rejecting the Trump administration's bid to stop the state from giving people driver's licenses without having them prove they are in the country legally. Nardacci ruled that the Republican administration -- which challenged the law under President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration -- had failed to support its claims that the state law usurps federal law or that it unlawfully regulates or unlawfully discriminates against the federal government.
Federal Judge Says Trump Administration Must Restore Disaster Money to Democratic StatesThe Associated Press
KIMBERLEE KRUESI
ReportingU.S. District Judge Mary McElroy has blocked the Trump administration's attempt to reallocate federal Homeland Security funding away from states that refuse to cooperate with certain federal immigration enforcement. McElroy's ruling on Monday solidified a win for the coalition of 12 attorneys general that sued the administration earlier this year after being alerted that their states would receive drastically reduced federal grants due to their "sanctuary" jurisdictions. In total, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency reduced more than $233 million from Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The money is part of a $1 billion program where allocations are supposed to be based on assessed risks, with states then largely passing most of the money on to police and fire departments.
Stephen Miller Cites Children of Immigrants as a ProblemThe New York Times
HAMED ALEAZIZ
ReportingWhen Stephen Miller, one of President Trump's top advisers, makes the case for the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, he is focused not only on the actions of those who came to the United States from another country. Increasingly, he blames their children as well. Miller's belief that seven decades of immigration has produced millions of people who take more than they give -- an assertion that has been refuted by years of economic data -- is at the heart of the Trump administration's campaign to restrict immigration and deport immigrants already in the country.
Lawmaker Sues to Remove Trump's Name From the Kennedy CenterThe New York Times
SHAWN MCCREESH
ReportingRepresentative Joyce Beatty, Democrat of Ohio, sued President Trump on Monday, seeking to force the removal of his name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Beatty's lawsuit names as defendants Trump and the loyalists he appointed to the center's board. The suit contends that the board's vote to change the name last week was illegal because an act of Congress is required to rename the building. Beatty is represented by Norman Eisen, a White House ethics counsel in the Obama administration, along with Nathaniel Zelinsky, his co-counsel of the Washington Litigation Group. Eisen said the name change "violates the Constitution and the rule of law because Congress said this is the name. He doesn't have a right to change the name."
Kennedy Center Renaming Highlights Trump's Reshaping of Washington in His ImagePBS News Hour
STEPHANIE SY
ReportingSince reentering the White House earlier this year, President Trump has made quick work of reshaping Washington in his image, in some cases literally. That is on display at the recently renamed Trump-Kennedy Center. The performing arts center has roots tracing back to the Eisenhower administration more than 60 years ago. Stephanie Sy takes a closer look at its history and evolution.
How Recall of Career Diplomats Fits Into Trump's Foreign Policy ShiftPBS News Hour
WILLIAM BRANGHAM
ReportingIn an unusual move, the Trump administration is recalling the ambassadors from nearly 30 countries around the world. William Brangham discussed this move with John Dinkelman, president of the American Foreign Service Association. He had a 37-year career as a diplomat in the State Department.
Supreme Court Blocks Trump's National Guard Deployment in the Chicago AreaThe Associated Press
MARK SHERMAN
ReportingThe Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area to support its immigration crackdown, a significant defeat for the president's efforts to send troops to U.S. cities. The justices declined the Republican administration's emergency request to overturn a ruling by U.S. District Judge April Perry that had blocked the deployment of troops. An appeals court also had refused to step in. The Supreme Court took more than two months to act. Three justices -- Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch -- publicly dissented. The high court order is not a final ruling but it could affect other lawsuits challenging President Trump's attempts to deploy the military in other Democratic-led cities. "At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois," the high court majority wrote.
Three Theories of What's Going on With the Contradictory Economic DataThe New York Times
JASON FURMAN
Former Former Chairman of the White House Council of Economic AdvisersEconomic data never tells a perfectly clear story, but lately the contradictions have been especially jarring. Just a week apart, the government delivered two sharply conflicting messages. One report showed job growth stalling and unemployment rising. Another showed the economy expanding at a blistering 4.3 percent annual rate -- more than double the pace of the first half of the year. When interpreting the macro economy, it is always best to look across a broad range of indicators and over longer periods of time. When a single volatile data release suggests the economy has suddenly turned sharply for better or worse, it is usually wrong; reality tends to be smoother and more moderate.
60 Minutes Episode on Brutal El Salvador Prison, Pulled by CBS, Appears OnlineThe Guardian
JENNA AMATULLI
ReportingA 60 Minutes episode investigating a brutal prison in El Salvador, which CBS News' editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, pulled from the air on Sunday, appeared online on Monday after appearing on a Canadian TV app. The segment, which runs for nearly 14 minutes and was viewed by the Guardian, provides an in-depth look at the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo prison in El Salvador. The episode was published on a streaming platform owned by Global TV, the network that has the rights to 60 Minutes in Canada.
U.S. Sees Surge in Violence Against Journalists Under Trump, Report SaysThe Guardian
ERIC BERGER
ReportingThe United States has seen a dramatic increase in violence against journalists since Donald Trump again took office. Most of the reporters and photographers who were allegedly attacked by law enforcement officials were covering protests over the Trump administration's efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit that tracks such incidents. The U.S. press have suffered about as many assaults this year as in the previous three years combined, the organization states in a new report.
Trump Administration Says Offshore Wind Is a Security Risk. An Expert Weighs InNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingDoes offshore wind harm or help national security? NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks to Joseph Majkut of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Return Deported Venezuelans to the U.S.NPR Morning Edition
IMENA BUSTILLO
LEILA FADEL
ReportingA federal judge ordered the Trump administration to return deported Venezuelans to the U.S. or give them another chance at legal remedies from abroad.
A Rift in MAGA Has Top Heritage Foundation Officials Leaving to Join With Mike PenceNPR Morning Edition
SARAH MCCAMMON
ReportingMore than a dozen staff members at the influential conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation are leaving the organization to join a group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence. The mass departure follows turmoil within Heritage and the larger conservative movement over the role of right-wing influencers who've promoted antisemitic and other extremist ideas. Pence's think tank, Advancing American Freedom or AAF, announced the hires on Monday, saying they include leaders from the Heritage Foundation's legal, economic and data teams.
Outrage After CBS Pulls 60 Minutes Segment on El Salvador's Cecot PrisonThe Guardian
EDWARD HELMORE
ReportingCBS News was dealing with internal and external uproar on Monday after it pulled at the last minute an investigation for its flagship 60 Minutes show into the harsh prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelans from the U.S. earlier this year. Bari Weiss, controversially appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News, said: "I held that story and I held it because it wasn't ready." Sharyn Alfonsi said her team had requested comment from the White House, the state department and the Department of Homeland Security. "If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a 'kill switch' for any reporting they find inconvenient," she said. Media commentator Kara Swisher posted on Threads, "This is entirely to please Trump, who has voiced criticism of 60 Minutes under the new owners, who are the definition of rank amateurs, emphasis on rank." She continued, "This Stephen Miller interview suggestion is idiotic in the context of this story -- doing another piece with him later is fine, but to add him here after the administration declines to officially have comment is a suck up gimme."
Trump Announces Plans for New Navy Warships to Be Known as 'Trump-Class'The Guardian
DAVID SMITH
ReportingDonald Trump has announced plans for the U.S. navy to build a new generation of warships -- known as "Trump-class." The ships will be bigger, faster and a hundred times more powerful than any previous U.S.-built warship, the president said on Monday. The project will begin with construction of two such battleships and eventually be expanded to 20 to 25 new vessels. Past battleship classes were typically named after U.S. states. But Trump, whose name already adorns many hotels and golf clubs, is currently on what critics describe as a narcissistic spree.
A Conspicuous Gap May Undermine Trump's Birthright Citizenship PlanThe New York Times
ADAM LIPTAK
ReportingIn asking the Supreme Court to let him do away with birthright citizenship, President Trump has urged the justices to restore "the original meaning" of the 14th Amendment. What the amendment meant when it was ratified in 1868, Trump's lawyers said in a brief, was that "children of temporary visitors and illegal aliens are not U.S. citizens by birth." But one important tool has been overlooked in determining the meaning of this amendment: the actions that were taken -- and not taken -- to challenge the qualifications of members of Congress, who must be citizens, around the time the amendment was ratified. A new study to be published next month in The Georgetown Law Journal Online fills that gap. It examined the backgrounds of the 584 members who served in Congress from 1865 to 1871 and found good reason to think that more than a dozen of them might not have been citizens under Trump's interpretation of the 14th Amendment. But no one thought to file a challenge to their qualifications. Between just 1865 and 1871, the qualifications of 18 senators were contested. Yet there was but one challenge to a senator's qualifications involving citizenship in those years.
NPR Analysis Shows Skyrocketing Number of 'No-Shows' in Immigration CourtNPR Morning Edition
XIMENA BUSTILLO
RAHUL MUKHERJEE
ReportingMore immigrants are not showing up for their mandatory immigration court hearings, allowing the government to order their immediate deportation. "What happened is that the word spread that if you go to court, you could get picked up from ICE," said Ruby Powers, an immigration lawyer based in Texas with cases all over the country.
Rick Steves Steps in to Save Seattle-Area Hygiene Center Serving Homeless ResidentsNPR Morning Edition
REBECCA ROSMAN
ReportingAn anonymous donor stepped in last month to save a Seattle-area community center that was slated to close. Last week, community members learned that the new property owner was travel writer and TV host Rick Steves, who pledged to keep it open and free for people needing hot showers and hot meals. He describes his decision as a response to what he sees as a failure of public priorities, not a model to be relied upon.
Epstein Survivor Reacts to the Justice Department's Release of the Epstein FilesNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingJeffrey Epstein accuser Annie Farmer tells NPR's Leila Fadel how survivors of his abuse are reacting to the Justice Department's file dump, which included her sister's 1996 FBI complaint.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., on the Trump's Seizures of Venezuela-Linked Oil TankersNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingNPR's Leila Fadel talks to Rep. Adam Smith, the Democratic leader of the House Armed Services Committee, about Trump administration's seizures of Venezuela-linked oil tankers.
U.S. Justice Department Halts Funding for Human-Trafficking SurvivorsThe Guardian
NOY THRUPKAEW
BERNICE YEUNG
AARON GLANTZ
ReportingMore than 100 organizations that support victims of human trafficking have lost funding since October, leaving thousands of survivors at risk, a Guardian investigation has found. Anti-trafficking advocates say the U.S. Department of Justice's failure to spend nearly $90m appropriated by Congress is impeding law-enforcement investigations and exposing survivors to homelessness and the risk of deportation, jail time or re-exploitation. "It's extremely irresponsible and maybe even immoral," said Kristina Rose, who ran the Justice Department's office for victims of crime under Joe Biden and served as its deputy director during the first Trump administration.
'60 Minutes' Holds Off on Airing Critical Piece on Trump Deportation PolicyThe Associated Press
DAVID BAUDER
ReportingCBS News' "60 Minutes" on Sunday didn't air a planned story on Trump administration deportations of immigrants to El Salvador, pulling it only hours before airtime at the direction of new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. The story, where correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spoke to deportees who had been sent to El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, was held because Weiss sought to add perspective from the Trump administration, according to people at the network. In an email sent to some colleagues and reported by multiple media outlets, Alfonsi said she'd learned on Saturday that Weiss had decided not to air it. She said her story was factually correct and cleared by CBS attorneys and news standards officials. "In my view, pulling it now -- after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one."
Trump Removes Nearly 30 Career Diplomats From Ambassadorial PositionsThe Associated Press
MATTHEW LEE
ReportingThe Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of President Trump's "America First" priorities. The chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January, according to two State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel moves. All of them had taken up their posts in the Biden administration but had survived an initial purge in the early months of Trump's second term that targeted mainly political appointees. That changed on Wednesday when they began to receive notices from officials in Washington about their imminent departures.
Trump Administration Pauses Five Offshore Wind Projects on the East CoastThe Associated Press
MATTHEW DALY
ReportingThe Trump administration said Monday it is pausing leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the East Coast due to unspecified national security risks identified by the Pentagon. The pause is effective immediately and will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense Department and other agencies to assess the possible ways to mitigate any security risks posed by the projects, the administration said. The action comes two weeks after Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts struck down President Trump's executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was "arbitrary and capricious" and violates U.S. law.
Trump's Appointment of Envoy to Greenland Sparks New Tension With DenmarkThe Associated Press
GEIR MOULSON
ReportingThe leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted Monday that the United States won't take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after President Trump announced the appointment of a special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory. Trump's announcement on Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry would be the envoy prompted a new flare-up of tensions over Washington's interest in the vast territory of Denmark, a NATO ally. Denmark's foreign minister told Danish broadcasters that he would summon the U.S. ambassador to his ministry. "We have said it before. Now, we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a joint statement. "They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security."
How ICE Raids Are Impacting ClassroomsNPR Weekend Edition
AYESHA RASCOE
ReportingNPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Seth Lavin, a Chicago school principal, about the impact on students and staff of ICE raids.
Scientists Push Back on Trump Plan to Break Up a Critical Climate and Weather CenterNPR Weekend Edition
SCOTT NEUMAN
ReportingThe White House plans to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a key weather and climate research center in Colorado, a move experts say could jeopardize the accuracy of forecasting and prediction systems. It's the latest climate-related move by President Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, cut funding for climate research and removed climate and weather scientists from their posts across the federal government.
Trump Takes America's 'Imperial Presidency' to a New LevelThe New York Times
PETER BAKER
Chief White House CorrespondentIn his first year back in office, Trump has unabashedly adopted the trappings of royalty just as he has asserted virtually unbridled power to transform American government and society to his liking. In both pageantry and policy, Trump has established a new, more audacious version of the imperial presidency that goes far beyond even the one associated with Richard M. Nixon, for whom the term was popularized half a century ago. Nearly 250 years after American colonists threw off their king, this is arguably the closest the country has come during a time of general peace to the centralized authority of a monarch. Trump takes it upon himself to reinterpret a constitutional amendment and to eviscerate agencies and departments created by Congress. He dictates to private institutions how to run their affairs. He sends troops into American streets and wages an unauthorized war against nonmilitary boats in the Caribbean. He openly uses law enforcement for what his own chief of staff calls "score settling" against his enemies, he dispenses pardons to favored allies and he equates criticism to sedition punishable by death.
'Am I Next?' Protest Art in Downtown LA Boldly Asks Who's Safe From ICEThe Guardian
VICTORIA NAMKUNG
ReportingThree Los Angeles institutions have teamed up to launch a response to federal immigration raids in the nation's second-largest city, projecting illuminated images of everyday LA residents in support of the thousands of community members who have been detained this year. Part of a protest art project entitled Am I Next?, the striking black and white images began appearing nightly on 6 November on the facades of the downtown buildings of the California Community Foundation, LA Plaza Cultura y Artes and the Japanese American National Museum in objection to the undermining of democratic norms and attacks on civil liberties. Along with projecting portraits of Angelenos, Am I Next? highlights brief stories of people, including U.S. citizens, accosted and snatched out of homes, cars, workplaces and the streets by federal agents, under the word "Taken."
At Least 16 Files Have Disappeared From the DOJ Webpage for Documents Related to Jeffrey EpsteinThe Associated Press
MICHAEL R. SISAK
DAVID B. CARUSO
ReportingAt least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department's public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein -- including a photograph showing President Trump -- less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public. The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The Justice Department didn't answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that "photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information."
Trump Administration Pushes Asylum Seekers to Apply in Other CountriesThe New York Times
JAZMINE ULLOA
ALLISON MCCANN
HAMED ALEAZIZ
ReportingThe Trump administration is intensifying efforts to deport people to countries where they have no connections. Last month, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security filed almost 5,000 motions to dismiss asylum cases and force applicants to seek protection elsewhere, a staggering increase from the few hundred such motions filed each month this summer. The surge, documented in an analysis of public immigration court data, comes as federal officials have been working out new asylum agreements with a handful of nations, including Honduras and Uganda.
Week in Politics: MAGA Activists in Phoenix; Trump's Address; Democrats Face 2024 LossNPR Weekend Edition
RON ELVING
SCOTT SIMON
ReportingMAGA activists meet in Phoenix, President Trump addresses the nation and his fans and Democrats grapple with how they lost in 2024.
This Health Policy Expert Assesses the Current State of the U.S. Health Care SystemNPR Weekend Edition
SCOTT SIMON
ReportingNPR's Scott Simon talks with Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation about the state of the U.S. health system as we close out 2025 with no deal in Congress to extend Obamacare. subsidies.
Trump Justice Department Slammed After Limited Epstein Files ReleaseThe Guardian
VICTORIA BEKIEMPIS
ReportingDonald Trump's justice department was hit with legal threats and scathing outrage after authorities released a limited, heavily redacted trove of Jeffrey Epstein files in an apparent violation of the law mandating the near-complete disclosure of these documents by Friday. "The justice department's document dump this afternoon does not comply with Thomas Massie and my Epstein Transparency Act," Ro Khanna, the California Democratic congressman who co-authored the law requiring full disclosure of all Epstein files by 19 December, said in a video statement. "It is an incomplete release, with too many redactions. Thomas Massie and I are exploring all options," he also said, among them possible impeachment of justice department officials, finding them in contempt of Congress. Khanna also floated the possibility of "referring for prosecution those who are obstructing justice."
U.S. Military Launches Strikes in Syria Targeting Islamic State Fighters After American DeathsThe Associated Press
K. TOROPIN
BEN FINLEY
AAMER MADHANI
ReportingThe Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to "eliminate" Islamic State group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week ago. A U.S. official described it as "a large-scale" strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons. Another U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected. "This is not the beginning of a war -- it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump's leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.
Unaccompanied Children Being Pressed to Return to Their Countries by U.S. Border OfficialsThe Guardian
JOSÉ OLIVARES
ReportingBorder officials are pressuring unaccompanied children who arrive in the U.S. as undocumented immigrants to quickly agree to return to their countries of origin, even if they express fear for their safety there -- or else face "prolonged" detention and other consequences, a federal government document reveals. The document, which emerged as an attachment in a court filing made by immigration attorneys, is understood to be presented or read to children within the first few days of them entering the U.S. while they are still in the custody of Customs and Border Protection, before they can see any relatives in the U.S.. Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon, a Democrat and the ranking member of the Senate's finance committee, is now demanding "this cruel policy" be abolished, saying it "cynically exploits" unaccompanied children's unique vulnerabilities as a way of pushing the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda. He added in the letter, shared exclusively with the Guardian, that the policy was "clearly intended to frighten unaccompanied children into abandoning the legal relief and protections they are seeking."
Elise Stefanik Ends Bid for New York Governor and Plans to Leave CongressThe Guardian
MAANVI SINGH
ReportingRepublican U.S. representative Elise Stefanik -- a staunch ally of Donald Trump who calls herself "ultra-Maga" -- is ending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek re-election to Congress. Stefanik wrote on X: "It is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York." Once considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for governor, Stefanik's race became more complicated after Bruce Blakeman, the executive of Nassau county, entered the race. If she did manage to win the primary, she would have faced a tough battle to unseat New York's Democratic governor Kathy Hochul, who has been polling far ahead in a state where Democrats far outnumber Republicans.
Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under TrumpProPublica
J. S. RICHARDS
MEGAN O'MATZ
JODI S. COHEN
ReportingThe Office for Civil Rights regularly resolves dozens of racial harassment cases a year and did so even during Trump's first administration. In the last days of the Biden administration, OCR workers pushed to close out several racial harassment agreements, including one that was signed by the district the day after Trump was inaugurated. With Trump in office, the agency has shifted to resolving cases involving allegations of discrimination against white students. At the same time, the administration has been clear about its goal of dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs across all facets of American life. This has been especially pronounced at schools and colleges, where the administration has also eroded protections for transgender students and considerations for historically disadvantaged groups. Internal department data obtained by ProPublica shows that more than 1,000 racial harassment investigations initiated in previous administrations still are open. Most of those complaints involve harassment of Black students. Not only has the Education Department failed to enter into any resolution agreements in those racial harassment cases, but it also has not initiated investigations of most new complaints.
A Federal Jury Finds Milwaukee Judge Guilty of Obstructing Immigration AgentsNPR Morning Edition
MAAYAN SILVER
ReportingA federal jury found Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan guilty Thursday of obstructing immigration agents as they attempted to arrest an undocumented immigrant defendant last April. Dugan's attorneys argued that immigration enforcement policy at the courthouse was in flux at the time, which led to Dugan's confusion and that after Dugan let Flores-Ruiz go through the jury door, he ended up back in the public hallway. They argued this showed she wasn't concealing him. Dugan attorney Jason Luczak told the jury: "You're the check on government overreach. Use your power to do justice in this case. You have the power to correct this unjust prosecution. It's your decision and justice is in your hands."
ABC News' Jonathan Karl Unpacks Trump's Behavior This WeekNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingNPR's Steve Inskeep looks back at President Trump's behavior over the past week with Jonathan Karl of ABC News. He's the author of "Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America."
Trump Suspends U.S. Green Card Lottery in Wake of Brown University and MIT ShootingsThe Guardian
STAFF
ReportingThe homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, has ordered the suspension of the green card lottery program at Donald Trump's direction, saying it allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the U.S.. Suspect Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, initially entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2000 and later became a permanent resident in 2017, according to Oscar Perez, the police chief in Providence, Rhode Island. Valente was found dead on Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. "This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," Noem said on X. Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem's announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals.
FBI Opened Domestic Terrorism Investigations Into Anti-ICE Activity Across U.S.The Guardian
SAM LEVIN
ReportingThe FBI has launched "criminal and domestic terrorism investigations" into "threats against immigration enforcement activity" in at least 23 regions across the U.S., according to an internal report shared with the Guardian. The two-page FBI document, dated 14 November, says some of the investigations are related to the "countering domestic terrorism" memo issued by Donald Trump in September. Released after the killing of Charlie Kirk, Trump's memo, known as NSPM-7, called for a "national strategy" to thwart "violent and terroristic activities" associated with "anti-fascism." It described "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity" as threats and cited "riots" in Los Angeles and Portland, referring to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as examples of "political violence."
Trump Moves to End Access to Gender-Related Care for MinorsThe New York Times
AZEEN G. HARMON
REED ABELSON
ReportingThe federal government on Thursday acted to put an end to gender-related care for minors across the nation, threatening to pull federal funding from any hospital that offered such treatment. The move reflects the laserlike focus on the issue by President Trump, who in his first days in office called gender treatments for minors "a stain on our Nation's history." The administration's action is not just a regulatory shift but the latest signal that the federal government does not recognize even the existence of people whose gender identity does not align with their sex at birth.
ICE Is Reopening Shuttered Prisons as Detention Centers. Many Have a Troubled PastNPR Morning Edition
MEG ANDERSON
ReportingNPR identified at least 16 shuttered facilities across a dozen states that have reopened as Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers since President Trump took office in January. Most were state or federal prisons, though some had been ICE detention centers. Almost all the properties were owned or operated by private prison companies and many had a troubled past.
FCC Chair Faces Questions About Threats to Broadcasters and Agency's IndependenceNPR Morning Edition
DAVID FOLKENFLIK
ReportingFCC Chairman Brendan Carr answered questions from senators about threats to broadcast licenses, investigations into news outlets and allegations that he's weaponizing the FCC.
Trump Tried to Ease Economic Anxieties With His Primetime Address. Did It Work?NPR Morning Edition
DO. MONTANARO
D. KURTZLEBEN
MICHEL MARTIN
ReportingPresident Trump used a primetime address Wednesday to celebrate his achievements since returning to office. Did his words do enough to ease the economic anxieties being felt by many Americans? (Spoiler alert: No.)
U.S. Announces More Than $10bn of Arms Sales to TaiwanThe Guardian
AMY HAWKINS
ReportingThe Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10bn that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China. The state department announced the sales late on Wednesday during a nationally televised address by president Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. The eight arms sales agreements announced on Wednesday cover 82 high-mobility artillery rocket systems or Himars and 420 army tactical missile systems or Atacms -- similar to those the U.S. had been sending to Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia -- worth more than $4bn. They also include 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4bn, as well as drones valued at more than $1bn. Other sales in the package include military software valued at more than $1bn, Javelin and Tow missiles worth more than $700m, helicopter spare parts worth $96m and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles worth $91m.
U.S. Prices Continued to Rise Despite Trump Claims They Are 'Rapidly' FallingThe Guardian
LAUREN ARATANI
ReportingU.S. prices rose 2.7 percent in the year to November, according to federal data released a day after Donald Trump claimed they were falling "very fast" on his watch. The latest consumer price index, released on Wednesday morning, was down from 3 percent in September and short of economists' expectations of about 3.1 percent for last month. It comes amid questions over the strength of the U.S. economy. The longest U.S. federal government shutdown in history halted collection of key data. There was no inflation report for October and data was only collected for the second half of November. The latest rise in prices coincides with a climbing unemployment rate, which hit 4.6 percent in November -- a four-year high.
Trump's Glowing Account of Progress Is at Odds With His Government's Own StatsThe Associated Press
CALVIN WOODWARD
ReportingPresident Trump's glowing account of progress under his watch Wednesday was out of tune with the experience of price-squeezed Americans and the story told by some of his government's own statistics. In a speech from the White House, Trump assailed the record of his Democratic predecessor and boasted expansively about his record so far. Not all of those boasts were credible. He was particularly misleading about inflation, investment and the 2024 election.
Leon Panetta on Susie Wiles and Serving as the President's Chief of StaffNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingNPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Leon Panetta, who served as White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, about Susie Wiles and her approach to the role in the Trump administration.
Louisiana Volunteer Group Brings Groceries to Families Fearing Immigration CrackdownNPR Morning Edition
ALEX COX
ReportingA group of volunteers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, delivers groceries to Latino families whose fears of immigration enforcement arrests keep them from leaving home.
GOP House Rep. Says It's 'Unacceptable' to Allow ACA Subsidies to ExpireNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingIn an interview with Morning Edition, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said that while the ACA subsidies were meant to be temporary, he finds it "unacceptable" for Congress to allow them to expire knowing that health care premiums will skyrocket. "Speaker Johnson is correct that the system is not working and just throwing money at the insurance companies is not going to make it more affordable," Lawler said. "But you have to have a plan in place. You have to have reforms in place. And to just end the subsidy without those changes to me is idiotic."
MAGA Loyalist Expands Investigation Into Intelligence Officials Who Angered TrumpThe Guardian
PETER STONE
ReportingA MAGA loyalist U.S. attorney in Miami is expanding an investigation of ex-FBI and intelligence officials who incurred Donald's Trump's wrath with an inquiry into how Russia helped him win in 2016, despite the U.S. justice department suffering stinging recent court rejections of indictments of two foes of the U.S. president. Former prosecutors and legal experts call the Miami-based inquiry, which has issued some two dozen subpoenas so far, a "fishing expedition." The investigation's apparent focus is to identify ways to criminally charge ex-FBI and intelligence officials who have already been investigated and effectively exonerated by two special counsels and a Republican-led Senate panel, which mounted exhaustive inquiries into Russia's efforts to boost Trump in 2016.
They Prosecuted the Capitol Rioters. Now the Rioters and the DOJ Are After Them.Reuters
MIKE SPECTOR
M.B. PELL
BENJAMIN LESSER
NED PARKER
ISAAC VARGAS
ReportingThe Capitol riot of January 2021 set off the largest criminal investigation in the Justice Department's history. For federal prosecutor Ashley Akers, it was a defining moment in a seven-year career spent untangling complex cases, from wire fraud to domestic terrorism. She helped put away dozens of rioters -- including some who swung bats and beat police officers. Then the tables turned. On his first day back in office, President Trump granted clemency to every criminally charged Jan. 6 rioter. Akers resigned. And as rioters celebrated their freedom, a chilling threat arrived. One so grotesque it still lingers, said Akers: an online message invoking Seven, the 1995 thriller, imagining her decapitated head in a box. Now, Akers and other prosecutors who handled Capitol riot cases face a new threat. Reuters has learned that pardoned Jan. 6 rioters have been advising Justice Department officials how to pursue -- and perhaps prosecute -- the very prosecutors who helped put them behind bars.
Jack Smith Tells Lawmakers His Team Developed 'Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt' Against TrumpThe Associated Press
ERIC TUCKER
LISA MASCARO
ReportingFormer Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door interview on Wednesday that his team of investigators "developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that President Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of his opening statement obtained by The Associated Press. He also said investigators had accrued "powerful evidence" that Trump broke the law by hoarding classified documents from his first term as president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida and by obstructing government efforts to recover the records. "I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump's political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 election," Smith said. "We took actions based on what the facts and the law required -- the very lesson I learned early in my career as a prosecutor."
How the Affordable Care Act Subsidies Work and Who Depends on ThemPBS News Hour
WILLIAM BRANGHAM
ReportingHouse Speaker Mike Johnson said he will not call for a vote on extending enhanced subsidies for people buying insurance through the Affordable Care Act. That effectively guarantees the subsidies will expire at the end of the month and premiums will spike substantially for some 20 million Americans who get their coverage this way. William Brangham reports on the subsidies and alternative ideas.
What's in the Massive Spending Bill Giving the Military More Funding Than RequestedPBS News Hour
NICK SCHIFRIN
LISA DESJARDINS
ReportingDefense Secretary Hegseth rejected calls to release the full video of a boat strike the military carried out in September. That attack was the first of 25 acknowledged strikes that the administration says were operated by so-called "narcoterrorists." At the same time, the Senate is debating its largest annual bill to authorize the Defense Department. Nick Schifrin and Lisa Desjardins report.
Jobs Report Reveals Cooling Labor Market and 'Uneven Economy,' Analyst SaysPBS News Hour
GEOFF BENNETT
ReportingThe U.S. labor market is showing further signs of cooling, as the latest jobs report indicates that unemployment has risen to its highest level in four years. There was some good news as payrolls climbed by 64,000 new jobs last month. The delayed report was due to the six-week government shutdown. Geoff Bennett discussed the numbers with David Wessel of the Brookings Institution.
Our Petty, Hollow, Squalid Ogre in ChiefThe New York Times
BRET STEPHENS
Opinion Columnist"Though I tend to think it's usually a waste of space to devote a column to President Trump's personality -- what more is there to say about the character of this petty, hollow, squalid, overstuffed man? -- sometimes the point bears stressing: We are led by the most loathsome human being ever to occupy the White House.... Right now, in every grotesque social media post; in every cabinet meeting devoted, North Korea-like, to adulating him; in every executive-order-signing ceremony intended to make him appear like a Chinese emperor; in every fawning reference to all the peace he's supposedly brought the world; in every Neronic enlargement of the White House's East Wing; in every classless dig at his predecessor; in every shady deal his family is striking to enrich itself; in every White House gathering of tech billionaires paying him court (in the literal senses of both "pay" and "court"); in every visiting foreign leader who learns to abase himself to avoid some capricious tariff or other punishment -- in all this and more, our standards as a nation are being debased, our manners barbarized."
Susie Wiles Pulls Back the Curtain on the Trump Administration in Revealing InterviewsThe Associated Press
BILL BARROW
ReportingWhite House chief of staff Susie Wiles offered an unusually candid look inside President Trump's administration in a series of interviews published Tuesday by Vanity Fair magazine, delivering details and reservations that presidential aides usually save for memoirs. From criticizing Attorney General Pam Bondi as having "whiffed" on the Jeffrey Epstein case to saying that no rational person could believe Elon Musk did a good job dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, Wiles revealed her own thoughts about her boss and the work of his aggressive administration. The assessments are even more notable because Wiles, before now, has maintained a low profile.
Trump's Allies and Critics Push Back Against His Online Post Disparaging Rob ReinerNPR Morning Edition
SAIGE MILLER
ReportingSome Republicans are joining frequent critics of President Trump in denouncing a social media post in which he disparaged filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife after their deaths.
Democrats Condemn Republicans Calling for Muslim Ban After Australia ShootingThe Guardian
RACHEL LEINGANG
ReportingDemocrats are condemning two Republican members of Congress who said, in the wake of the mass shooting in Australia, that the U.S. should ban Muslims from the country and kick out those who already live here. Congressman Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, said he not only wants deportations of legal immigrants who are Muslim, but "citizenship revocations wherever possible" of Muslims. Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, said Islam is a "cult," Muslims are "here to conquer" and that people needed to "stop worrying about offending the pearl clutchers." In response, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), a group that advocates for civil rights for Muslims, designated Tuberville as an "anti-Muslim bigot," the first time the organization has given the designation to a U.S. senator. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative from New York, said Fine's posts were "disgusting." "Our Muslim neighbors are not Republicans' scapegoats for antisemitic attacks and [Donald] Trump's failed policies," she wrote on X. "We must absolutely condemn Islamophobia loudly and hold those perpetuating it accountable."
Ilhan Omar Says Trump's Repeated Attacks Fuel Climate of Political ViolenceThe Guardian
DAVID SMITH
ReportingU.S. congresswoman Ilhan Omar has warned that Donald Trump's repeated personal attacks and dehumanising rhetoric are fuelling a climate of political violence that could have dangerous consequences. Speaking days after the president called for her to be thrown out of the country, Omar said Trump's incendiary language reaches "the worst humans possible" and encourages them to act. "We've had people incarcerated for threatening to kill me," she told the Guardian in an interview at her Washington office. "We have people that are being prosecuted right now for threatening to kill me and so it is something that does stay in the back of our minds. But I also worry about those people finding someone who looks like me in Minneapolis or across the country and thinking it is me and harming them."
The U.S. Gained 64,000 Jobs in November but Lost 105,000 in October; Unemployment Rate at 4.6 percentThe Associated Press
PAUL WISEMAN
ReportingThe United States gained a decent 64,000 jobs in November but lost 105,000 in October as federal workers departed after cutbacks by the Trump administration, the government said in delayed reports. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent last month, highest since 2021. The November job gains were higher than the 40,000 economists had forecast. The October job losses were caused by a 162,000 drop in federal workers, many of whom resigned at the end of fiscal year 2025 on Sept. 30 under pressure from billionaire Elon Musk's purge of U.S. government payrolls. Labor Department revisions also knocked 33,000 jobs off August and September payrolls. Hiring has clearly lost momentum, hobbled by uncertainty over President Trump's tariffs and the lingering effects of the high interest rates the Fed engineered in 2022 and 2023 to rein in an outburst of inflation. Since March, job creation has fallen to an average 35,000 a month, compared to 71,000 in the year ended in March.
Trump Administration Says White House Ballroom Construction Is a 'Matter of National Security'The Associated Press
DARLENE SUPERVILLE
ReportingThe Trump administration said in a court filing Monday that the president's White House ballroom construction project must continue for unexplained national security reasons and because a preservationists' organization that wants it stopped has no standing to sue. The filing was in response to a lawsuit filed last Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation asking a federal judge to halt President Trump's project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and a public comment period and wins approval from Congress. The administration's 36-page filing included a declaration from Matthew C. Quinn, deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service, the agency responsible for the security of the president and other high-ranking officials, that said more work on the site of the former White House East Wing is still needed to meet the agency's "safety and security requirements." The filing did not explain the specific national security concerns; the administration has offered to share classified details with the judge in a private, in-person setting without the plaintiffs present.
Trump Policies Upend Years-Long Paths to Citizenship for Some ImmigrantsPBS News Hour
AMNA NAWAZ
ReportingThe naturalization ceremony is the final step of a lengthy, often years-long legal process to become a U.S. citizen. In cities across the country in recent weeks, they've been abruptly canceled for immigrants from 19 countries deemed "high-risk" by President Trump. Amna Nawaz discussed those caught in legal limbo with Gail Breslow of Project Citizenship.
Some Farmers Lobby for More Federal Support as Others Lose Faith in the GovernmentAll Things Considered
ANUSHA MATHUR
ReportingDespite the Trump administration's recent $12 billion bailout, a turbulent year is prompting some farmers to question their reliance on government assistance and programs.
How a VA Social Worker's Life Has Changed Since Leaving the JobAll Things Considered
ANDREA HSU
ReportingThe upheaval to the federal workforce in 2025 drove tens of thousands of federal employees to leave their jobs. One former employee of the Veterans Health Administration reflects on the year out from under Trump.
Trump Levels Political Attack on Rob Reiner in Inflammatory Post After His KillingThe Associated Press
MICHELLE L. PRICE
ReportingPresident Trump on Monday blamed Rob Reiner's outspoken opposition to the president for the actor-director's killing, delivering the unsubstantiated claim in a shocking post that seemed intent on decrying his opponents even in the face of a tragedy. The statement, even for Trump, was a shocking comment that came as police were still investigating the deaths of the director and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, as an apparent homicide. The couple were found dead at their home Sunday in Los Angeles. Investigators believe they suffered stab wounds and the couple's son Nick Reiner was in police custody early Monday. Trump has a long track record of inflammatory remarks, but his comments in a social media post were a drastic departure from the role presidents typically play in offering a message of consolation or tribute after the death of a public figure. His message drew criticism even from conservatives and his supporters and laid bare Trump's unwillingness to rise above political grievance in moments of crisis.
GOP Rep. Says ACA Subsidy Users Shouldn't 'Pay the Price for Congressional Inaction'NPR Morning Edition
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingSpeaking to NPR's A Martínez, Kevin Kiley of California discusses efforts in the House to address the looming health care cost spike and whether Republicans and Democrats will be able to find a bipartisan solution.
FDA Commissioner on Public's Growing Mistrust in the Government's Health AdviceNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingNPR's Steve Inskeep asks FDA Commissioner Marty Makary about recent controversies around the COVID and Hepatitis B vaccines and the lack of trust in the government's medical advice.
National Trust for Historic Preservation Sues to Stop Trump's Ballroom ConstructionNPR Morning Edition
TAMARA KEITH
ReportingThe National Trust for Historic Preservation has filed a lawsuit to stop the construction of President Trump's ballroom.
The War on 'Wokeness' Hits the U.S. MintThe New York Times
DAN BARRY
ReportingThe Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is authorized by law to make final decisions about coin designs, including the 250th anniversary coins -- a dime, a half-dollar and five quarters -- which are both collectible and legal tender. But his choices ignored the more diverse recommendations for the quarters by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, a bipartisan group mandated by Congress to review the U.S. Mint's proposed designs for American coins. To commemorate the abolition of slavery, the committee had recommended an image of Frederick Douglass on the obverse and shackled and unshackled hands on the reverse. To honor women's suffrage, a World War I-era protester carrying a "Votes for Women" flag. And to evoke the civil rights movement, a 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, books in hand, helping to desegregate the New Orleans school system in 1960. Bessent opted instead for the more general and much whiter. For the Mayflower Compact, a Pilgrim couple staring into the distance. For the Revolutionary War, a profile of Washington. For the Declaration of Independence, a profile of Thomas Jefferson. For the Constitution, a profile of James Madison. And for the Gettysburg Address, a profile of Lincoln on the obverse and on the reverse, a pair of interlocking hands. No shackles. The rejection of its recommendations, along with the selection of designs it had not vetted, did not sit well with the committee, whose 11 members include numismatists, historians and members of the public
The S.E.C. Was Tough on Crypto. It Pulled Back After Trump Returned to Office.The New York Times
STAFF
ReportingIt is unheard-of for the Securities and Exchange Commission to retreat from a swath of lawsuits against a single industry. And yet, The Times found that the S.E.C. had eased up on more than 60 percent of the crypto cases that were ongoing when Trump returned to the White House, moving to pause litigation, lessen penalties or outright dismiss the cases. The dismissals were particularly unusual, The Times found. Under Trump, S.E.C. dismissals came at a far higher rate for crypto firms than other cases. And although the particulars of the crypto lawsuits differed, many of these firms had something in common: financial ties to Trump, the self-described crypto president.
Car Prices Hit a Record HighNPR Weekend Edition
AYESHA RASCOE
ReportingNew car prices hit a record high and President Trump blames fuel efficiency standards. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Bloomberg Detroit bureau chief David Welch about what's behind the high prices.
Measles Cases Spike in South CarolinaNPR Weekend Edition
AYESHA RASCOE
ReportingNPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Dr. Carlos del Rio about the spiking number of measles cases in South Carolina and about the public health challenges posed by the outbreak.
Week in Politics: Crunch Time for New Health Insurance Plans, Trump Sued Over White House Renovations, Americans Killed by ISISNPR Weekend Edition
AYESHA RASCOE
TAMARA KEITH
ReportingDespite being in control of the White House and Congress, Republicans have been unable to pass their health care agenda. We look at why that's the case, as well as a new lawsuit against the president.
U.S. Contractors Vie to Rebuild Gaza, With 'Alligator Alcatraz' Team in the LeadThe Guardian
ARAM ROSTON
CATE BROWN
ReportingTrump administration insiders and well-connected Republican businesses have been jostling to dominate pending humanitarian aid and reconstruction logistics in the shattered Gaza Strip, according to sources and documents reviewed by the Guardian. With three-quarters of Gaza's structures damaged or destroyed by two years of Israeli strikes, the rebuilding effort to come -- estimated at $70bn by the United Nations -- could be a rich prize for companies that specialize in construction, demolition, transportation and logistics. The Guardian has learned that two former DOGE officials -- once assigned to Elon Musk's effort to slash government and fire federal workers in bulk -- are leading the group's conversations about humanitarian assistance and the postwar reconstruction of Gaza. They have circulated slide decks with detailed plans for logistics operations, including prices, financial projections and the locations of potential warehouses. U.S. companies are gathering for the spoils. One contender, the Guardian has learned, is Gothams LLC, a politically connected contractor that won a $33m contract to help run the notorious south Florida detention center nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz," where immigrants are housed in tents and trailers.
How the Rapid Turnover Has Affected the Work of the Justice DepartmentNPR Weekend Edition
CARRIE JOHNSON
ROB SCHMITZ
ReportingThousands of civil servants have departed the Justice Department this year as judges and juries cast a more skeptical eye at prosecutors' arguments and briefs.
What Happened When Immigration Agents Showed Up at This North Carolina Woman's HouseNPR Weekend Edition
ERIC WESTERVELT
ADRIAN FLORIDO
ReportingA North Carolina woman left her front yard Christmas tree half-decorated after immigration agents questioned men helping her. The unfinished tree stands as a symbol of the immigration crackdown.
Justice Depart. Faces Hurdle in Comey Case as Judge Finds Constitutional ProblemsThe Associated Press
ERIC TUCKER
ReportingThe Justice Department violated the constitutional rights of a close friend of James Comey and must return to him computer files that prosecutors had hoped to use for a potential criminal case against the former FBI director, a federal judge said Friday. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly represents not only a stern rebuke of the conduct of Justice Department prosecutors but also imposes a dramatic hurdle to government efforts to seek a new indictment against Comey after an initial one was dismissed last month. The order concerns computer files and communications that investigators obtained years earlier from Daniel Richman, a Comey friend and Columbia University law professor, as part of a media leak investigation that concluded without charges. The Justice Department continued to hold onto those files and conducted searches of them this fall, without a new warrant, as they prepared a case charging Comey with lying to Congress five years ago.
Trump Officials 'Conspiring to Illegally Intimidate' Non-Citizens via New VA Report, Lawmakers SayThe Guardian
JOSÉ OLIVARES
AARON GLANTZ
ReportingMore than 20 members of Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Veterans Affairs and homeland security officials after the Guardian revealed the VA is compiling a report on all non-U.S. citizens "employed by or affiliated with" the government agency that will then be shared with other federal agencies, including immigration authorities. The VA operates the nation's largest integrated healthcare system, serving 9 million veterans annually across 170 hospitals and more than 1,000 outpatient clinics. It employs 450,000 workers and enjoys relationships with most major medical schools. "It is obvious that the VA and the Department of Homeland Security are conspiring to illegally intimidate, imprison and deport individuals who perform duties at the VA in service to our nation's veterans," the lawmakers wrote. The VA has confirmed to the Guardian that the department intends to share some of the data it gathers with other federal agencies, including for immigration enforcement purposes. The report on the non-citizen individuals at the VA is due to be provided to Collins later this month.
Trump's AI Adviser Faces Questions Over Use of Position to Advance His Own InterestsNPR Morning Edition
BOBBY ALLYN
ReportingDavid Sacks is the Trump administration's top advisor on tech and crypto policy. In recent weeks, he's faced questions about conflicts of interest and criticism over his drive to undo state AI laws.
U.S. Military Members Fear Personal Legal Blowback Tied to Boat StrikesNPR Morning Edition
RYAN LUCAS
ReportingU.S. service members -- including staff officers and at least one drone pilot -- are seeking advice from outside groups, fearing they could face legal consequences for any involvement in the Trump administration's lethal strikes on suspected drug boats. "It's hard to be a soldier and make determinations in any situation, but it's especially hard in a situation like this -- where most people don't see an imminent threat -- to be sent to do something that you're really worried about, could I go to prison for this?" said Steve Woolford, a resource counselor with Quaker House in North Carolina and the GI Rights Hotline. "Their calls were both about the legality of what they were participating in and what that might mean for them in terms of being subject to punishment for doing something that they weren't supposed to do and were supposed to know better than to do," he said.
This Holiday Season Isn't Very Merry for Consumers, an AP-NORC Poll FindsThe Associated Press
JOSH BOAK
AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX
ReportingThis holiday season isn't quite so merry for American shoppers as large shares are dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is stuck in a rut under President Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds. The vast majority of U.S. adults say they've noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly half of Americans say it's harder than usual to afford the things they want to give as holiday gifts and similar numbers are delaying big purchases or cutting back on nonessential purchases more than they would normally.
Church Nativity Scenes Add Zip Ties, Gas Masks and ICE to Protest Immigration RaidsThe Associated Press
LEAH WILLINGHAM
LAURA BARGFELD
ReportingOne baby Jesus lays in a manger in the snow, wrapped in a silver emergency blanket with his wrists zip-tied. Mary stands nearby outside the Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, wearing a plastic gas mask and flanked by Roman soldiers in tactical vests labeled "ICE." In another Chicago suburb, not far from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that has drawn protests over detentions, a sign at the manger outside the Urban Village Church says "Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding." And more than a thousand miles away, the Christ child went missing from a Nativity scene at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, replaced by a hand-painted sign: "ICE was here." These and other stark reimaginings of Christ's birth are drawing praise and outrage as churches turn the Christmas tableau into a commentary on federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Their creators say they are placing the ancient story in a contemporary frame, portraying the Holy Family as refugees to reflect on the fear of separation and deportation that many families -- including their own parishioners -- are experiencing today.
Federal Judge Blocks FEMA From Canceling Climate Resiliency GrantsThe New York Times
SCOTT DANCE
ReportingA federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Thursday that the Trump administration could not unilaterally cancel a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program that states used for disaster preparation, imposing a potential hurdle in the administration's efforts to tighten FEMA's purse strings. Richard G. Stearns, a U.S. District Court judge appointed by President Bill Clinton, said the administration's decision to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program was unlawful, citing statutes concerning federal appropriations and FEMA's legal responsibility to help reduce the damage from disasters. A group of 22 states sued FEMA in July, three months after the administration canceled the grant program and called it "yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program." The agency said in April that it was canceling all applications to the program for fiscal years 2020-23 and that if grant funds had not been distributed, they would be returned to a larger fund used for FEMA's disaster recovery work or to the U.S. Treasury. In their lawsuit, the states argued that the roughly $4.5 billion the program had invested in extreme weather resiliency projects along with similar programs had prevented $150 billion in disaster damage over two decades.
A Grand Jury Again Declines to Reindict Letitia JamesThe New York Times
JONAH E. BROMWICHDEVLIN BARRETT
GLENN THRUSH
ReportingA federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., declined on Thursday to indict Letitia James, the New York attorney general, the second time in a week that jurors had rejected the effort -- a rebuke of President Trump's bid to order up prosecutions against his political enemies. The jury refused to charge James, who had brought a civil case against Trump, in connection with making false claims on a mortgage application, according to people familiar with the matter, exactly one week after another set of jurors did the same. The back-to-back failures by prosecutors to secure an indictment amounted to a striking rejection of the administration's retribution campaign. It highlighted the Justice Department's unusual strategy of pursuing second indictments despite earlier failures in court and suggested the department would face major hurdles in bringing charges against President Trump's foes.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Freed From Federal Immigration Detention on Judge's Order and Returns HomeThe Associated Press
TRAVIS LOLLER
JOHN SEEWER
MARC LEVY
ReportingKilmar Abrego Garcia was freed from immigration detention on a judge's order Thursday while he fights to stay in the U.S., handing a major victory to the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the United States without any legal basis. Abrego Garcia returned to his home in Maryland wearing a white shirt and orange hat hours after his release at 5 p.m., the deadline the judge gave the government for an update on Abrego Garcia's release. He's lived for years in Maryland, where he has an American wife and child, since originally immigrating to the U.S. illegally as a teenager.
Senate Rejects Extension of Health Care Subsidies as Costs Are Set to Rise for Millions of AmericansThe Associated Press
MARY CLARE JALONICK
ReportingThe Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year. As Republicans and Democrats have failed to find compromise, senators voted on two partisan bills instead that they knew would fail -- the Democratic bill to extend the subsidies and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts. It was an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the Covid-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1, including a 43-day government shutdown that they forced over the issue. "We failed," said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of four Republicans who voted for the Democratic bill, after the vote. "We've got to do better. We can't just say 'happy holidays, brace for next year.'"
Indiana Republicans Defy Trump and Reject His House Redistricting Push in the StateThe Associated Press
ISABELLA VOLMERT
OBED LAMY
THOMAS BEAUMONT
ReportingIndiana's Republican-led Senate decisively rejected a redrawn congressional map Thursday that would have favored their party, defying months of pressure from President Trump and delivering a stark setback to the White House ahead of next year's midterm elections. The vote was overwhelmingly against the proposed redistricting, with more Republicans opposing than supporting the measure, signaling the limits of Trump's influence even in one of the country's most conservative states. Trump has been urging Republicans nationwide to redraw their congressional maps in an unusual campaign to help the party maintain its thin majority in the House of Representatives. Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina went along, Indiana did not -- despite cajoling and insults from the president and the possibility of primary challenges.
Report Finds 'Inhuman' Conditions at Two Florida Immigration FacilitiesNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingA new report reveals the conditions at two immigration facilities in Florida. NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Amy Fischer of Amnesty International USA about the findings.
Veteran Diplomat Weighs the Meaning of the U.S. Seizure of a Venezuelan Oil TankerNPR Morning Edition
MICHEL MARTIN
ReportingNPR's Michel Martin talks to Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, about the U.S. seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
U.S. State Department Changes Official Font From Calibri Back to Times New RomanNPR Morning Edition
MICHEL MARTIN
ReportingThe U.S. State Department changed its official font from the reader-friendly Calibri back to Times New Roman. Michel Martin speaks with an accessibility design expert about why fonts matter.
Tariffs Have Cost U.S. Households $1,200 Each Since Trump Returned to the White House, Democrats SayThe Associated Press
PAUL WISEMAN
ReportingSweeping taxes on imports have cost the average American household nearly $1,200 since Donald Trump returned to the White House this year, according to calculations by Democrats on Congress' Joint Economic Committee. Using Treasury Department numbers on revenue from tariffs and Goldman Sachs estimates of who ends up paying for them, the Democrats' report Thursday found that American consumers' share of the bill came to nearly $159 billion -- or $1,198 per household -- from February through November. "This report shows that (Trump's) tariffs have done nothing but drive prices even higher for families," said Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the economic committee. "At a time when both parties should be working together to lower costs, the president's tax on American families is simply making things more expensive."
Trump Administration Separates Thousands of Migrant Families in the U.S.The Associated Press
GISELA SALOMON
ReportingDuring the first Trump administration, families were forcibly separated at the border and authorities struggled to find children in a vast shelter system because government computer systems weren't linked. Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration authorities and separated from their families during prolonged detention. Or, they choose to have their children remain in the U.S. after an adult is deported, many after years or decades here. Three families separated by migration enforcement in recent months told The Associated Press that their dreams of better, freer lives had clashed with Washington's new immigration policy and their existence is anguished without knowing if they will see their loved ones again. For them, migration marked the possible start of permanent separation between parents and children, the source of deep pain and uncertainty.
What the End of a Biden-Era Student Loan Program Means for BorrowersPBS News Hour
JOHN YANG
ReportingThe Trump administration has reached a joint settlement with seven states that will effectively shut down a key Biden-era student loan relief program. But what about the roughly 7 million people currently enrolled in it? Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, The Washington Post's national higher education reporter, joins John Yang to break down the impact on borrowers in the months ahead.
Lawsuit Challenges Park Service Passes Featuring TrumpThe New York Times
MAXINE JOSELOW
ReportingAn environmental group on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging the National Park Service's plan to emblazon President Trump's face on some annual passes to national parks starting Jan. 1. The suit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia by the Center for Biological Diversity, argued that it would violate federal law to put Trump's visage on some of the passes, which have traditionally featured photos of scenic landscapes and wildlife. Representatives for the Park Service and its parent agency, the Interior Department, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Divided Fed Cuts Interest Rates for Third Straight TimeAll Things Considered
SCOTT HORSLEY
ReportingThe Federal Reserve voted to cut its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday. This was the Fed's third rate cut since September, but policymakers signaled they expect to make fewer rate cuts next year.
New Miami Mayor-Elect on 'Trickle-Down Hatred' of Federal Immigration PolicyAll Things Considered
AILSA CHANG
ReportingNPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Miami Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins, who will be the city's first female mayor and the first Democrat in decades to hold the seat.
About a Third of People Arrested by ICE Had No Criminal Record, New Data ShowsNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingData obtained and published by the Deportation Data Project shows that in the first nine months of President Trump's second term, around 75,000 people arrested by ICE did not have a criminal record, which is over a third of all ICE arrests. Co-host Leila Fadel talks to Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, about what this data tells us about the Trump administration's immigration policy.
Political Consultant Talks About Trump's Stance on AffordabilityNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingPresident Trump minimized concerns about the economy during a Pennsylvania rally Tuesday. NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with political consultant Frank Luntz about Trump's latest take.
Michigan Democrat Moves to Impeach RFK Jr, Alleging 'Abuse of Authority'The Guardian
ANNA BETTS
ReportingA Democratic lawmaker from Michigan has introduced articles of impeachment against Robert F Kennedy, the U.S. health secretary, accusing him of "abuse of authority and undermining of the public health." Representative Haley Stevens, who is currently running for Senate, formally introduced the articles on impeachment on Wednesday, several months after she announced that she vowed to file the articles. "Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has turned his back on science, on public health and on the American people -- spreading conspiracies and lies, driving up costs and putting lives at risk," Stevens said in a news release on Wednesday announcing the move. "Under his watch, families are less safe and less healthy, people are paying more for care, lifesaving research has been gutted and vaccines have been restricted. He has driven up health care costs while tearing down the scientific institutions that keep Michiganders and families across America safe. His actions are reckless, his leadership is harmful and his tenure has become a direct threat to our nation's health and security. Congress cannot and will not stand by while one man dismantles decades of medical progress."
U.S. Senator Calls for Insider Trading Inquiry Over Trump Donors Buying $12m Worth of SharesThe Guardian
NINA LAKHANI
JOSEPH GEDEON
ReportingA senior Democratic senator is calling for an investigation into potential insider trading by fossil-fuel billionaires close to the Trump administration, after a Guardian investigation raised questions about an unusual share buying spree. Robert Pender and Michael Sabel, the founders and co-chairs of Venture Global, a liquefied natural gas company headquartered in Virginia, bought more than a million shares worth almost $12m each, just days after meeting with senior Trump officials in March. The meeting included Chris Wright, the energy secretary, who days later granted the company an export license essential for its expansion plans in Europe, the Guardian reported last week. "Dirty oil and gas bucks are fueling the Trump Administration, which should outrage all of us. This latest reporting portrays a pattern of pay-to-play donations and favorable actions by the administration," said Jeff Merkley, senator for Oregon and senior member of the Senate appropriations and budget committees.
U.S. Threatens New ICC Sanctions Unless Court Pledges Not to Prosecute TrumpReuters
HUMEYRA PAMUK
ReportingPresident Trump's administration wants the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate the Republican president and his top officials, a Trump administration official said, threatening new U.S. sanctions on the court if it did not. If the court does not act on this U.S. demand and two others -- dropping investigations of Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and formally ending an earlier probe of U.S. troops over their actions in Afghanistan -- Washington may penalize more ICC officials and could sanction the court itself, the official said.
Judge Orders Trump to End California National Guard Deployment in Los AngelesThe Associated Press
BRIDGET BROWN
MICHAEL WARREN
CURTIS YEE
ReportingThe Trump administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials who opposed President Trump's extraordinary move to use state Guard troops without the governor's approval to further his immigration enforcement efforts. But he also put the decision on hold until Monday.
Trump Administration Withdraws Plan to Overhaul Homeless AidThe New York Times
JASON DEPARLE
ReportingThe Trump administration this week abruptly withdrew its high-profile plan to overhaul how $3.9 billion in federal aid to combat homelessness would be spent, saying it would reissue the proposal after making "appropriate revisions." The surprise move, revealed in a one-paragraph note by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, did not give a reason for withdrawing the plan or a timeline for reissuing it, saying only it would do so in time to govern awards for the current fiscal year. The announcement added new uncertainty and potential delays to the government's main program for homelessness relief.
Legal Groups Sue Justice Dept. For Secret Memo Justifying Boat StrikesThe New York Times
JONAH E. BROMWICH
ReportingLegal organizations on Tuesday sued the Justice Department and other government agencies for the release of a secret memo offering formal justification for the Trump administration's boat strikes in international waters, which have killed close to 90 people. The organizations -- the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights -- filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan, asking a judge to order the release of the memo and any other relevant records. "The public deserves to know how the Trump administration has justified the outright murder of civilians as lawful and the grounds on which it purports to provide immunity from prosecution for personnel who carried out these crimes," the organizations said in their suit.
Trump Officials Move to Scrap Biden Student-Loan Repayment PlanThe Guardian
MAYA YANG
ReportingDonald Trump's administration announced on Tuesday it had reached a settlement with several Republican-led states to end Joe Biden's student loan repayment program, which has helped millions of borrowers repay their debt. On Tuesday, the education department announced plans to halt what it called Biden's "illegal" Save plan -- the Saving on a Valuable Education income-driven repayment program which currently has more than 7 million borrowers.
Organizers Submit Enough Signatures to Block Gerrymandered Missouri MapThe Guardian
SAM LEVINE
ReportingOrganizers challenging Missouri's gerrymandered congressional map say they turned in enough signatures on Tuesday to block the map from going into effect and to force a referendum on the map next year. People not Politicians, the main organization behind the effort, said they submitted more than 300,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office, nearly triple the number required to block the map from going into effect. Missouri's Republican secretary of state now needs to review the signatures. "The citizens of Missouri have spoken loudly and clearly: they deserve fair maps, not partisan manipulation," Richard von Glahn, the executive director of People Not Politicians, said in statement. "We are submitting a record number of signatures to shut down any doubt that Missouri voters want a say."
Officers at Texas Immigration Detention Facility Accused of Beatings and Sexual AbuseThe Guardian
LORENA FIGUEROA
ReportingOfficers at the large immigration detention camp located at the Fort Bliss army base in Texas are allegedly mistreating detainees, with accusations including beatings, sexual abuse and clandestine deportations of non-Mexican nationals into Mexico, according to a coalition of local and national U.S. civil rights organizations. In a 19-page letter, addressed to senior government officials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and Fort Bliss military command, the coalition accuses officers at the immigration detention facility on the base, called Camp East Montana, of being "in violation of agency policies and standards, as well as statutory and constitutional protections." The advocates called for the immediate closure of the camp, where more than 2,700 detainees are being held in a complex of tents.
Illinois Governor Signs Bill Imposing New Limits on Immigration EnforcementThe New York Times
MITCH SMITH
ReportingGov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat, signed into law on Tuesday a measure that restricts immigration enforcement outside state courthouses and that makes it easier to sue immigration agents if residents believe their rights have been violated. "Residents should be able to go to court, take their kid to day care and have access to the university they attend without fear they will be kidnapped off the street," State Representative Lilian Jiménez, a Democrat from Chicago, said in a statement when the bill passed.
Sen. Van Hollen Urges Democrats to Stand for Something -- Not Just Be Anti-TrumpNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
Reporting"We've become too much the party of the status quo when people want to see us move in a different direction," Van Hollen said in a Morning Edition interview about the future of the Democratic Party. "We need to be clear about what we're fighting for -- not just what we're fighting against." Van Hollen said Democrats need a sharper message, a clearer policy agenda and a willingness to back newer voices who are resonating with voters. He also outlined proposals he believes could help rebuild trust, including a tax cut for working- and middle-class Americans.
Supreme Court Appears Poised to Expand Presidential Powers. What That Could MeanNPR Morning Edition
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingNPR's A Martinez speaks with Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTU.S. blog, about Monday's Supreme Court hearing on the president's power to fire an FTC commissioner.
White House Calls National Security Strategy Trump's Version of the Monroe DoctrineNPR Morning Edition
GREG MYRE
LEILA FADEL
ReportingPresident Trump is pursuing aggressive policies throughout the Western Hemisphere. His administration is calling it the "Trump Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine.
Trump Had Two Mortgages He Claimed Were Primary Dwellings, Records ShowThe Guardian
JOSEPH GEDEON
ReportingDonald Trump signed mortgage documents in the 1990s claiming two separate Florida properties would each serve as his principal residence -- the same thing his administration is calling "mortgage fraud" when done by political rivals, records show. ProPublica unearthed documents demonstrating that within seven weeks of each other in late 1993 and early 1994, the president obtained loans for neighboring Palm Beach homes, pledging each would be his primary dwelling. Instead of living in them, though, he rented both out as investment properties. There is no suggestion that the activity is or was illegal and proving intent is key in fraud cases. Yet Trump has called the same behavior -- having two primary dwelling mortgages -- "deceitful and potentially criminal" in relation to mortgage fraud charges against the Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook. The Trump administration is bringing several similar cases against the New York attorney general, Letitia James, the senator Adam Schiff and the congressman Eric Swalwell.
Farmers Say Trump's Payment Isn't Enough Amid Rising Health Care CostsAll Things Considered
DREW HAWKINS
ReportingPresident Trump announced $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers as they adjust to increased tariffs on exports. Some farmers say even with that help they still face rising health care costs.
EU Leaders React With Alarm to Trump Administration's New National Security StatementAll Things Considered
TERI SCHULTZ
ReportingAnalysts say the latest release of the U.S. National Security Strategy reveals big differences in how the U.S. and European Union view the Russia-Ukraine war.
Developer of App That Tracks ICE Raids Sues U.S., Saying Officials Pressured Apple to Remove ItThe New York Times
TRIPP MICKLE
ReportingFor six months, Apple distributed an app called ICEBlock that allowed users to alert people when they saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But after the Trump administration complained that the app endangered officers, Apple removed it. On Monday, the app's developer, Joshua Aaron, sued top Trump administration officials, accusing them of pressuring Apple to stifle his free speech and his right to create, distribute and promote ICEBlock. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claimed that Attorney General Pam Bondi abused the government's power when the Justice Department contacted Apple and demanded it remove the app, which she said she had done in a statement to Fox News in October. She said that Apple removed the app after her request.
Must the Military Disobey Unlawful Orders? Pam Bondi Has Said Yes.The New York Times
ADAM LIPTAK
ReportingWhen six Democratic lawmakers issued a video last month telling members of the military that they must refuse unlawful orders, President Trump said they had committed "SEDITIOU.S. BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" But Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said the same thing last year in a friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court as a lawyer for the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that represented three former military leaders. "Military officers are required not to carry out unlawful orders," she wrote. She elaborated: "The military would not carry out a patently unlawful order from the president to kill nonmilitary targets. Indeed, service members are required not to do so."
Hegseth Said U.S. Military Should Refuse 'Unlawful' Trump Orders in Unearthed 2016 InterviewThe Guardian
EDWARD HELMORE
ReportingU.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated repeatedly in 2016 on Fox News that U.S. service members should refuse "unlawful" orders from a potential president Trump -- exactly the position he called "despicable" when Democratic lawmakers said it last month. The debate about whether U.S. soldiers should refuse illegal orders is now at the center of a fiery political dispute over the U.S. killings of alleged drug traffickers in boats off the coast of Venezuela and Columbia. In video unearthed by CNN from March of 2016, when Donald Trump was a Republican presidential candidate, Hegseth responded to Trump's comments in a debate by clarifying that service members did, in fact, have a duty to refuse any illegal orders.
Americans Facing Unaffordable Healthcare Costs if ACA Subsidies End Share ConcernsNPR Morning Edition
STAFF
ReportingMillions of Americans could see their healthcare costs skyrocket if the ACA subsidies aren't extended. NPR spoke with residents of New Jersey, Virginia and Georgia about their concerns.
Senate Democrats Pitch Plan to Extend ACA Subsidies, but It May Not Have Enough VotesNPR Morning Edition
DEIRDRE WALSH
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingThe Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a Democratic proposal to extend existing Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years. But the plan is not expected to get the votes it needs to advance.
Legal Scholar Discusses SCOTUS Case on the Firing of a Democratic FTC CommissionerNPR Morning Edition
LEILA FADEL
ReportingNPR's Leila Fadel asks legal scholar Jeffrey Rosen how a Supreme Court case over the firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic FTC commissioner, could expand presidential powers.
Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could Vastly Expand Presidential PowersNPR Morning Edition
ALYSSA KAPASI
ANDREA HSU
ReportingThe Supreme Court hears Monday arguments in a case that could end the independence of independent agencies, overturn a 90-year-old precedent and reshape the balance of power between Congress and the president. At issue is whether President Trump can fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, whom Trump appointed in 2018, during his first term, to fill a Democratic seat on the Federal Trade Commission. President Biden appointed Slaughter to a second term, which was supposed to end in 2029. Instead, in March, Slaughter received an email from the White House Office of Presidential Personnel informing her that she was being removed from office, effective immediately. She was told her "continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with [the Trump] Administration's priorities."
Mamdani Tells Immigrant New Yorkers About Their Right Not to Comply With ICEThe Associated Press
STAFF
ReportingNew York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani posted a video to social media on Sunday explaining immigrants' right to refuse to speak to or comply with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, days after federal agents carried out a raid in Manhattan. In the video, Mamdani vowed to protect the city's three million immigrants, saying, "We can all stand up to ICE if you know your rights." He explained that people in the U.S. can chose not to speak to federal immigration agents, film them without interfering and refuse their requests to enter private spaces. ICE agents cannot enter spaces like a home, school or private area of a workplace without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, Mamdani said. "ICE is legally allowed to lie to you, but you have the right to remain silent. If you're being detained, you may always ask, 'Am I free to go?' repeatedly until they answer you," said Mamdani.
Records Reviewed by AP Detail Online Monitoring, Arrests in New Orleans Immigration CrackdownThe Associated Press
JIM MUSTIAN
JACK BROOK
ReportingState and federal authorities are closely tracking online criticism and protests against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans, monitoring message boards around the clock for threats to agents while compiling regular updates on public "sentiment" surrounding the arrests, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Associated Press. The intelligence gathering comes even as officials have released few details about the first arrests made last week as part of "Catahoula Crunch," prompting calls for greater transparency from local officials who say they've been kept in the dark about virtually every aspect of the operation.
U.S. Court Says Trump Can Remove Democrats From Two Federal Labor BoardsReuters
DANIEL WIESSNER
ReportingThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a 2-1 decision said federal laws allowing members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board to be removed only for cause violated the U.S. Constitution. Those agencies wield substantial executive power, so they should be accountable to the president, Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, wrote for the court. He was joined by another Trump appointee, Circuit Judge Justin Walker. Circuit Judge Florence Pan, in a dissenting opinion, said that Congress intended to insulate the boards from politics by making them independent from the White House, as it has done with about 30 other agencies.
Panel Votes to End Recommendation for Hepatitis B Shots for All NewbornsThe New York Times
APOORVA MANDAVILLI
ReportingAfter contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B, a highly infectious virus that leads to chronic liver disease in most infected children. The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted 8-3 that women who test negative for the virus should consult with their health care provider and "decide when or if their child will" be vaccinated against the virus at birth. The committee did not change the recommendation that newborns of mothers known to be infected or whose status is unknown be immunized. The shift is not expected to affect insurance coverage of the shots. More changes to vaccine policy are likely follow in the next months, as the committee goes on to review all childhood immunizations.
Colorado Judge Rules That Immigration Agents Must Stop Warrantless ArrestsNPR Morning Edition
ALLISON SHERRY
ReportingA federal judge in Colorado says federal agents must stop arresting without warrants people they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally.
After Attack on Two West Virginia Guard Troops, Their Hometowns Question DeploymentsNPR Morning Edition
SCOTT NEUMAN
ReportingAfter two West Virginia National Guard members were attacked while serving in D.C., some residents in the state are questioning President Trump's decision about deploying federal troops.
Trump Replaces Architect on Ballroom Project After ClashesNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingPresident Trump has replaced the architect for his controversial ballroom project. Washington Post reporter Jonathan Edwards explains what's behind this decision.
Grand Jury Said to Decline to Re-Indict Letitia JamesThe New York Times
DEVLIN BARRETT
J. E. BROMWICH
ReportingA grand jury in Norfolk, Va., declined on Thursday to re-indict Letitia James, New York's attorney general, according to people familiar with the matter, rejecting efforts to revive a criminal case that had been sought by President Trump. The decision dealt another embarrassing setback to the president's efforts to exert greater control over the Justice Department, highlighting how judges and jurors have acted as a check on Trump's desire to use the criminal justice system to punish his political foes.
Supreme Court Clears the Way for Republican-Friendly Texas Voting MapsThe New York Times
ABBIE VANSICKLE
ReportingThe Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday for Texas lawmakers to use newly redrawn congressional maps favoring Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. In a five-paragraph order, the majority wrote that Texas was "likely to succeed on the merits of its claim" that a lower court had wrongly blocked the new maps. The trial court, the majority wrote, had "improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections." The court's order did not include a vote count, which is typical for rulings on such emergency applications. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote a concurrence, adding that he joined the majority's decision to allow the Texas maps. Two other conservatives, Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch, joined him. In a 17-page dissent, Justice Elena Kagan, joined by the court's two other liberals, argued that the majority had wrongly overturned a careful, 160-page lower court ruling, "based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record." "We are a higher court than the district court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision," she wrote. Justice Kagan wrote that the Supreme Court's order "disserves the millions of Texans whom the district court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race," adding that "because this court's precedents and our Constitution demand better, I respectfully dissent."
Dem Congressman 'Deeply Concerned' About Legality of Boat Strikes After Viewing VideoPBS News Hour
GEOFF BENNETT
ReportingA classified briefing on the Pentagon's strike of an alleged drug boat opened partisan divides over whether the act constituted war crimes. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee. He was among the members of Congress briefed by military leaders.
Most Immigrants Arrested in City Crackdowns Have No Criminal RecordThe New York Times
ALBERT SUN
ReportingIn high-profile Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and across Massachusetts, more than half of those arrested had no criminal record, compared with a third of immigrants arrested nationwide. The operations have upended life for many residents and prompted protests and backlash. Local leaders say they have done little to make their cities safer. Less than 30 percent of the people arrested in any of these operations had been convicted of a crime, an analysis of the data shows and a very small share had been convicted of a violent crime. The most common non-violent convictions were for driving under the influence and other traffic offenses.
CDC Advisers Delay Planned Vote on Hepatitis B Vaccine for InfantsAll Things Considered
PIEN HUANG
ReportingVaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unexpectedly postponed controversial votes Thursday on changes to the current recommendation of universally immunizing newborns against hepatitis B. Confusion and disagreement over the language of the votes led the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices or ACIP, to push them to Friday. The committee meeting was marked by unusual conflict and chaos. Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, defended the current policy. "This disease has gone down in the United States, thanks to the effectiveness of our current immunization program," said Meissner, who is the only current member that has served on the committee in the past. When challenged by another adviser, Robert Malone, a vaccinologist and biochemist, to caveat this statement as his "opinion," he replied: "These are facts, Robert."
FBI Arrests Suspect From Virginia in Jan. 6 Pipe Bomb AttackAll Things Considered
CARRIE JOHNSON
ReportingFederal authorities have arrested a Virginia man suspected of placing pipe bombs near the Capitol nearly five years ago, hours before a mob swarmed the building.
U.S. Health Care Is Broken. Here Are Three Ways It's Getting WorseAll Things Considered
MARIA ASPAN
ReportingPeople increasingly can't afford health insurance. The costs of both Obamacare and employer-sponsored insurance plans are set to skyrocket next year, in a country where health care is already the most expensive in the developed world. Yet even as costs surge, the companies and the investors who profit from this business are also struggling financially. Shares in UnitedHealth Group, the giant conglomerate that owns UnitedHealthcare and that plays a key role in the larger stock market, have plunged 44 percent from a year earlier.
Trump Renames Institute of Peace for HimselfThe New York Times
AISHVARYA KAVI
ReportingA dormant government building in the nation's capital may seem like an unlikely setting for the signing of a peace deal. But nearly nine months after the Trump administration seized control of the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters in an extraordinary public showdown and all but shuttered it, the center has re-emerged, newly named for President Trump. The morning before Trump was scheduled to host a signing ceremony at the institute with the presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, workers arrived at the building on the National Mall to install Trump's name in large, silver letters to two sides of the exterior of the building, positioning his name to the left of where the institute's name was already engraved into the facade.
Poll Suggests G.O.P. Will Face More Blame if Obamacare Subsidies Go AwayThe New York Times
REED ABELSON
ReportingWithout the extension of larger subsidies, which lower the cost of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act for millions of Americans, many people will see their health expenses rise by about $1,000 next year. Among those facing a spike, most said they would blame President Trump or Republicans in Congress, according to the poll, which was conducted by KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group. About half of people covered by Obamacare plans who are registered to vote said such an increase would have a "major impact" on how or whether they vote in the 2026 midterms, according to the survey.
The 'Useful Idiots' From America Whom Putin Is Playing Like a FluteThe New York Times
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Opinion Columnist"I am sure President Trump and his envoys to Russia, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, sincerely want to stop the killing in Ukraine, but they are failing and will continue to fail as long as they persist in their naïve view that this is just a big real estate deal and that their backgrounds in real estate give them an advantage. It is utter nonsense on multiple levels.... Reagan understood that real estate deals are purely over value (price per square foot) and interest rates. He understood that war-and-peace deals are about advancing and preserving moral values and strategic interests. And you don't compromise on those with a fascist aggressor.... I can think of no other American president who would have acted as if America's values and interests dictated that we now be a neutral arbiter between Russia and Ukraine and, on top of that, an arbiter who tries to make a profit from each side in the process -- as Trump has done. This is one of the most shameful episodes in American foreign policy and the entire Republican Party is complicit in its perpetuation."
Poll: Trump's Own Voters Begin Blaming Him for Affordability CrisisPolitico
ERIN DOHERTY
ReportingNew polling shows many Americans have begun to blame President Trump for the high costs they're feeling across virtually every part of their lives -- and it's shifting politics. Almost half -- 46 percent -- say the cost of living in the U.S. is the worst they can ever remember it being, a view held by 37 percent of 2024 Trump voters. Americans also say that the affordability crisis is Trump's responsibility, with 46 percent saying it is his economy now and his administration is responsible for the costs they struggle with.
'New York Times' Sues Pentagon Over Media RestrictionsNPR Morning Edition
DAVID FOLKENFLIK
ReportingThe New York Times sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday over the Pentagon's new policy that requires media outlets to pledge not to gather information unless defense officials formally authorize its release. The Times -- and NPR -- are among the organizations that chose to give up their press passes rather than agree to the policy. Despite surrendering their Pentagon credentials, news organizations have been aggressively reporting on military action, including U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and Venezuelan vessels, breaking news that contradicts official accounts. In its court documents, the Times is arguing that Hegseth's moves violate constitutional protections for free speech and freedom of the press. The paper also alleges that the Pentagon violated its reporters' constitutionally protected rights to due process by making a decision on press passes out of the blue and without any path to appeal.
Pentagon Report on Signalgate Reveals Hegseth's Group Chat Violated RegulationsNPR Morning Edition
GREG MYRE
MICHEL MARTIN
ReportingDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing more scrutiny this week after a new report found his sharing of highly sensitive attack plans in a group chat that included a journalist violated policy.
Jeffrey Goldberg, Journalist at the Center of Signalgate, on Pentagon's New ReportNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingJeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of the Atlantic, was the journalist added to the Signal chat where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared war plans. He shares his thoughts on the Pentagon's report.
Epidemiologist Discusses the Proposed Changes to the Childhood Vaccination ScheduleNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingNPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with epidemiologist Michael Osterholm about Thursday's federal vaccine advisory committee meeting and proposed changes to the child vaccination schedule.
White House Targets Experienced Immigration Judges in the Latest Round of FiringsNPR Morning Edition
XIMENA BUSTILLO
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingThe White House has been firing immigration judges all year. But in the latest round, a lot more experienced judges are being let go, not just those still on probation.
Ilhan Omar Says Trump Attacks on Somali Immigrants 'Deflect Attention' From ScrutinyNPR Morning Edition
MICHEL MARTIN
ReportingPresident Trump continued verbal attacks on Minnesota's Somali community on Wednesday. During a tirade, Trump -- while discussing alleged fraud in Minnesota's social services systems -- called immigrants from Somalia "garbage" and said "they've destroyed our country." He also talked about deporting Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who represents the largest Somali American population in the U.S. Omar, who immigrated to the U.S. at age 12 and is now a U.S. citizen, joined Morning Edition to discuss the president's remarks. She called Trump's rant "vile" and said it was no surprise because he has "trafficked in racism, in xenophobia, in bigotry, in Islamophobia for as long as he has held office."
How Trump Is Using Presidential Pardon Power in New WaysPBS News Hour
LIZ LANDERS
ReportingPresident Trump announced he is pardoning Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, who were indicted last year on bribery and money laundering charges. It's the latest in a series of controversial pardons Trump has signed. White House Correspondent Liz Landers discussed more with Liz Oyer, who served as the Department of Justice pardon attorney in the Biden administration.
Proposal to Declassify Nursing as 'Professional' Threatens Ability to Secure Student LoansPBS News Hour
GEOFF BENNETT
ReportingNew limits on student loans could reshape how the U.S. trains nurses and doctors. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, medical students would be capped at borrowing $50,000 per year. The Trump administration is now proposing a stricter cap for graduate degrees in nursing, public health or social work. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Jennifer Mensik Kennedy of the American Nurses Association.
Border Patrol's Expanding Role in Trump's Immigration CrackdownPBS News Hour
LIZ LANDERS
ReportingThe Department of Homeland Security confirms it started a sweeping immigration crackdown in New Orleans. The News Hour confirmed that Border Patrol, not Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is primarily running the New Orleans operation. White House correspondent Liz Landers reports on how the president's immigration crackdown is being carried out.
Minnesota Leaders Defend the Somali Community After a Blistering Attack by TrumpAll Things Considered
MATT SEPIC
ReportingAfter blistering attacks by President Trump on the Somali community in Minnesota, local leaders in Minneapolis and St. Paul are defending Somali-Americans.
The Press Corps at the Defense Department Has Been Replaced by Far-Right OutletsAll Things Considered
STEVE WALSH
ReportingThe traditional press corps at the Defense Department has been replaced with an unusual assortment of far right media personalities and outlets. The Pentagon held it's first press briefing for them.
Fifty Years After the Birth of Special Education, Some Fear for Its Future Under TrumpAll Things Considered
CORY TURNER
ReportingFifty years ago, just after Thanksgiving of 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, the landmark law that created special education as it exists today and guaranteed all children with disabilities the right to a "free appropriate public education." Yet, "rather than celebrating progress, we face a crisis," warned a recent letter to Congress, signed by hundreds of disability, civil rights and education groups. That crisis, according to the letter, is "the dismantling of the very infrastructure Congress created to ensure children with disabilities could reach their full potential."
How Could Trump Interfere in the Midterms? Here's What Voting Officials Are WatchingAll Things Considered
MILES PARKS
ReportingTrump, who continues to spread false claims about voting in America, issued an executive order in the spring that sought to mandate major changes to the elections system. That order has so far mostly been blocked by the courts, but he's teased other executive action as well. And his administration is still investigating his loss five years ago, while pardoning people associated with his efforts to try to overturn that defeat. All of that has made it clear to those in the elections community that Trump plans to have a heavy hand in their processes next year. Here are a few things voting officials are watching for.
The Authoritarian Playbook: Is Trump 'The Last American President?'KALW Your Call
ROSE AGUILAR
NINA KISSINGER
ReportingOn this edition of Your Call, Thom Hartmann discusses his new book, The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party and a World on the Brink. Hartmann argues that Trump's rise was not an anomaly, but rather the inevitable product of a political system engineered to fail. He says without major reforms, the U.S. risks falling into a permanent state of authoritarianism. Hartmann writes: "We are not guaranteed another free election. The Constitution is not self-executing; it requires people of good faith to defend it. We are not promised a second chance at this experiment called democracy. This is potentially the story of the last president we may ever elect freely. Unless we choose to fight. Unless we recognize that democracy isn't something we have, it's something we do, every single day. The choice, as it has always been in America, is ours." [51:37]
Trump Proposal Would Weaken Vehicle Mileage Rules That Limit Air PollutionThe Associated Press
MATTHEW DALY
ALEXA ST. JOHN
ReportingPresident Trump on Wednesday announced a proposal to weaken vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The plan, if finalized next year, would significantly reduce fuel economy requirements, which set rules on how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline, through the 2031 model year. The administration and automakers say the rules will increase Americans' access to the full range of gasoline vehicles they need and can afford. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projects that the new standards would set the industry fleetwide average for light-duty vehicles at roughly 34.5 miles per gallon in the 2031 model year, down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under the Biden-era rule. The move is the latest action by the Trump administration to reverse Biden-era policies that encouraged cleaner-running cars and trucks, including electric vehicles and it sparked criticism from environmental groups. Burning gasoline for vehicles is a major contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Private Employers Cut Jobs in November, the Latest Sign of a SlowdownThe New York Times
BEN CASSELMAN
ReportingPrivate employment fell last month, according to the payroll processing company ADP, the latest sign of weakness in the U.S. labor market. Companies cut 32,000 jobs in November, the third decline in four months, ADP said on Wednesday. Losses were concentrated among small businesses, which cut 120,000 jobs even as larger firms added employees. "It is those mom-and-pop, main street companies, firms, small businesses and establishments that are really weathering what is an uncertain macro environment and a cautious consumer," Nela Richardson, the chief economist at ADP, said in a call with reporters. "I see them as a canary in the coal mine."
U.S. Immigration Crackdown Begins in New OrleansReuters
STAFF
ReportingFederal authorities began a law enforcement operation on Wednesday targeting people living in New Orleans illegally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said as the Trump administration continues its city-to-city immigration crackdown. The operation's "targets include violent criminals who were released after arrest for home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto and rape," Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. The scope of the New Orleans operation was not clear although it had previously been expected to run through the end of the year with a slowdown around Christmas.
Judge Issues Injunction Restricting Immigration Arrests in Nation's CapitalThe Associated Press
SUDHIN THANAWALA
ReportingA federal judge late Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from making widespread immigration arrests in the nation's capital without warrants or probable cause that the person is an imminent flight risk. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington granted a preliminary injunction sought by civil liberties and immigrants rights groups in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. An email to the department after hours Tuesday was not immediately returned.
'They Are Not Alone': Migrants Rely on Faith Communities Amid Immigration CrackdownNPR Morning Edition
TYCHE HENDRICKS
ReportingIn the face of the Trump administration's ongoing immigration crackdown, many immigrants are living in a relentless state of fear and anxiety. In California, some lean on their faith communities.
Retired Major General on the Legalities of the Trump Administration's Boat StrikesNPR Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingNPR's Steve Inskeep asks former Air Force Deputy Judge Advocate General Steven Lepper about the legalities of the strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
Republican Matt Van Epps Narrowly Wins Special House Election in TennesseeNPR Morning Edition
STEPHEN FOWLER
STEVE INSKEEP
ReportingRepublicans will hold on to a House seat in Tennessee after a special election Tuesday that saw millions of dollars in outside spending and national attention for the closer-than-expected contest.
Survey Finds Low Morale Among U.S. Diplomats After Sweeping Job CutsNPR Morning Edition
MICHELE KELEMEN
ReportingA survey by the American Foreign Service Association finds that U.S. diplomats are reeling from layoffs and low morale, leaving American foreign service in crisis.
Trump Calls Affordability a 'Con Job' as His Edge on the Economy SlipsThe New York Times
ERICA L. GREEN
ReportingPresident Trump on Tuesday downplayed the cost-of-living pains being felt by Americans, declaring that affordability "doesn't mean anything to anybody" as his political edge on the economy continues to dissipate. After ticking off what he claimed were trillions of dollars of investments and other economic accomplishments, Trump called the issue of affordability a "fake narrative" and "con job" created by Democrats to dupe the public. "They just say the word," he said. "It doesn't mean anything to anybody. They just say it -- affordability. I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no affordability. Nobody could afford anything."
Experts Doubt FDA Official's Claims About Covid-19 Vaccine Death ClaimsHere & Now
MATTHEW HERPER
Science Writer at STATThe Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine regulator wrote in an email to staff on Friday that the Covid-19 vaccine led to at least 10 deaths in children. But experts say they are skeptical of the findings because they were presented with very little evidence.
Federal Authorities Plan Operation in Minnesota Focusing on Somali Immigrants, AP Source SaysThe Associated Press
MIKE BALSAMO
STEVE KARNOWSKI
ReportingFederal authorities are preparing a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that would primarily focus on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., according to a person familiar with the planning. The move comes as President Trump again on Tuesday escalated rhetoric about Minnesota's sizable Somali community, saying he did not want immigrants from the east African country in the U.S. because "they contribute nothing."
Trump Administration Threatens to Withhold SNAP Management Funds From States That Don't Share DataThe Associated Press
GEOFF MULVIHILL
D. SUPERVILLE
ReportingPresident Trump's administration warned on Tuesday that it will withhold money for administering SNAP food aid in most Democratic-controlled states starting next week unless those states provide information about people receiving the assistance. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the action is looming because those states are refusing to provide data the department requested such as the names and immigration status of aid recipients. She said the cooperation is needed to root out fraud in the program. Democratic states have sued to block the requirement, saying they verify eligibility for SNAP beneficiaries and that they never share large swaths of sensitive program data with the federal government. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia previously sued over the request for information, which was initially made in February. A San Francisco-based federal judge has barred the administration, at least for now, from collecting the information from those states.
Costco Sues Trump Administration for Refund of TariffsThe New York Times
JENNY GROSS
ReportingCostco has sued the Trump administration for a refund of the tariffs it has paid on imported goods, should the Supreme Court rule them illegal, becoming one of the largest companies to challenge President Trump's sweeping levies in court. The complaint, filed on Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade, argues that Trump misused a 1977 law in his move to implement tariffs on products from more than 100 countries.
Trump Administration Is 'Selling Out' Navy Admiral to Shield Hegseth Over Boat Strikes, Officials SayThe Guardian
JOSEPH GEDEON
ReportingOfficials in Congress and the Pentagon say the Trump administration is attempting to shield Pete Hegseth from responsibility for a "second strike" to kill survivors on an alleged drug boat by scapegoating a U.S. navy admiral instead. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, on Monday explicitly named Adm Frank M Bradley as the officer who "directed the engagement," distancing Hegseth, the Pentagon secretary, from accountability despite a Washington Post report that he ordered the deaths of everyone on the boat. "Secretary Hegseth authorised Adm Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes," Leavitt said, adding: "Adm Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated."
Data Supports Current U.S. Policy of Hepatitis B Vaccine for Newborns, as Officials Push for ChangeReuters
JULIE STEENHUYSEN
ReportingAn independent review released on Tuesday by vaccine experts of more than 400 studies and reports found that long-standing U.S. policy of giving the hepatitis B vaccine to newborns has cut infections in children by more than 95 percent. The policy, adopted in 1991, will be discussed and voted on later this week by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisers hand-picked by U.S. health secretary and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "After extensive review, we did not discover safety or effectiveness data that support delaying the choice parents have to vaccinate their newborns against hepatitis B," said Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious-disease expert at the University of Minnesota who helped found the Vaccine Integrity Project that released the review.
Trump Administration Fires 8 Immigration Judges in New YorkThe New York Times
ANA LEY
ReportingThe Trump administration fired eight immigration judges in New York City on Monday, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The firings followed an earlier round of job cuts in New York immigration courts and are part of a broader disruption across the country, which is taking place as the president seeks to accelerate deportations. They were confirmed by an official at the National Association of Immigration Judges, a union representing immigration judges and a Justice Department official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The immigration courts are under the control of the Justice Department.
Doctor Says Trump Had Preventative Screening MRI on Heart, Abdomen With 'Perfectly Normal' ResultsThe Associated Press
STAFF
ReportingDonald Trump' s doctor says the president had MRI imaging on his heart and abdomen in October as part of a preventative screening for men his age, according to a memo from the physician released by the White House on Monday. Sean Barbabella said in a statement that Trump's physical exam included "advanced imaging" that is "standard for an executive physical" in Trump's age group. Barbabella concluded that the cardiovascular and abdominal imaging was "perfectly normal." "The purpose of this imaging is preventative: to identify issues early, confirm overall health and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function," the doctor wrote. The White House released Barbabella's memo after Trump on Sunday said he would release the results of the scan.
Experts Explain What the Law Says About Killing Survivors of a Boat StrikeThe Associated Press
BEN FINLEY
K. TOROPIN
ReportingThe U.S. military would have committed a crime if it killed the survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat, legal experts say. It doesn't matter whether the U.S. is in "armed conflict" with drug cartels as the Trump administration asserts. Such a fatal second strike would have violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict, the experts say. "I can't imagine anyone, no matter what the circumstance, believing it is appropriate to kill people who are clinging to a boat in the water," said Michael Schmitt, a former Air Force lawyer and professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval War College. "That is clearly unlawful." The White House confirmed Monday that a second strike was conducted in September against a vessel accused of trafficking drugs off the coast of Venezuela and insisted it was done "in self-defense" and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.
Many Fighting Climate Change Worry They Are Losing the Information WarThe New York Times
LISA FRIEDMAN
STEVEN LEE MYERS
ReportingWhen nearly 200 nations signed the 2015 Paris Agreement, acknowledging the threat of rising global temperatures and vowing action, many hoped that the era of climate denial was finally over. Ten years later it has roared back, arguably stronger than ever. As delegates wrapped the annual United Nations climate talks last Saturday, those who have campaigned to reduce the use of fossil fuels expressed growing alarm that forces arrayed against them are gaining ground in the information war.
Indiana Lawmakers Could Revisit Efforts to Redraw Maps in Republicans' FavorNPR Morning Edition
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingSome Indiana Republicans refused to draw a new congressional map at President Trump's urging, even after months of pressure from the White House. Now, lawmakers may be put to a vote on the issue.
FDA Claims There's a Link Between Covid-19 Vaccines and Pediatric DeathsNPR Morning Edition
ROB STEIN
LEILA FADEL
ReportingThe Food and Drug Administration says it's going to get tougher on vaccines, blaming the deaths of at least 10 children on the Covid-19 vaccines.
Security Analyst Talks About How the U.S. Vets Afghan NationalsNPR Morning Edition
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingNPR's A Martinez speaks to Peter Bergen, the vice president of Global Studies and Fellows at liberal think tank New America and a security analyst, about the U.S. vetting process for Afghan nationals.
Lawmakers Vow to Increase Oversight on Trump's Military Strikes on BoatsNPR Morning Edition
JOHN OTIS
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingAs tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela continue to intensify, some U.S. lawmakers are concerned at least one of President Trump's boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea may have been a war crime.
The Debate to Extend Affordable Care Act Subsidies Continues as Deadline LoomsNPR Morning Edition
JULIE ROVNER
A MARTÍNEZ
ReportingThe extension of the extra financial help to buy Affordable Care Act health insurance is still up in the air. Republicans have politics and policy to weigh.
Former Trump Lawyer Alina Habba Is Disqualified as Top New Jersey Prosecutor, U.S. Appeals Court RulesThe Associated Press
MIKE CATALINI
ReportingPresident Trump's former personal lawyer Alina Habba is disqualified from serving as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor despite his administration's maneuvers to keep her in the role, an appeals court said Monday. A panel of judges from the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower-court judge's ruling after hearing oral arguments at which Habba was present on Oct. 20. "It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place. Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to the role of Acting U.S. Attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced -- yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney's Office deserve some clarity and stability," the court wrote in a 32-page opinion. It concluded: "We will affirm the District Court's disqualification order."
Trump Says He'll Release MRI Results but Doesn't Know What Part of His Body Was ScannedThe Associated Press
STAFF
ReportingPresident Trump said he'll release the results of his MRI test from October. "If you want to have it released, I'll release it," the Republican president said Sunday during an exchange with reporters as he traveled back to Washington from Florida. He said the results of the MRI were "perfect." The White House has declined to detail why Trump had an MRI during his physical in October or on what part of his body. The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has said the president received "advanced imaging" at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center "as part of his routine physical examination" and that the results showed Trump remains in "exceptional physical health." Trump added Sunday he has "no idea" on what part of his body he got the MRI. "It was just an MRI," he said. "What part of the body? It wasn't the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it."