NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-03-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. The House of Representatives of the 119th Congress has been gaveled into order. The House will be in order. The chair lays before the House a communication from the Speaker. With that, lawmakers went into recess to return at this hour and take up the matter of electing this session's Speaker of the House. Mike Johnson has the endorsement of President-elect Trump as he heads into elections for Speaker and he says he's confident he will hold on to the gavel.

This election is not just about one person. It's about moving forward with the America First agenda. The mandate was given by the American people, by the electorate. President Trump got 77 million votes. The House Republicans got almost 75 million. It's a record number. They are expecting us to get to work. With the margins tied in Congress, 219 Republicans to 215 Democrats, the challenge is significant.

Data points, while they still make up an overwhelming majority, the number of congressional members who identify themselves as Christian has declined. And PR's Jason DeRose takes this look. Jason DeRose Christians comprise about 87 percent of this Congress, a higher portion than the U.S. population. Pew Research says about 62 percent of Americans overall identify as Christian. Members of Congress are far more likely than the population in general to identify as religious. Nearly three in ten Americans say they're either atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular, while less than 1% of the House and Senate identify that way. Other data points, Jews will make up 6% of Congress while being only about 2% of the U.S. population. Muslims

and Hindus, meanwhile, will each account for less than 1% of the incoming Congress. Jason DeRose, NPR News. The White House says President Biden will travel to New Orleans on Monday to meet with people affected by the New Year's Day attack in the city that killed 14 people. Biden says that he will meet with the community and meet with officials on the ground. President Biden has formally blocked a nearly $15 billion deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. steel. As NPR's Franco Ordonez reports, Biden says it is his responsibility to ensure America has a strong steel industry.

In one of his final major acts as president, Biden rejected the takeover deal of the Pennsylvania-based company over national security concerns. He wrote in a statement that steel production and the steel workers who produce it are the backbone of our nation, and without them the nation is less strong and less secure. The proposed deal turned into a hot political issue. Biden took the unusual step to weigh in on the deal. He sided with union workers and said the company should remain in U.S. hands. President-elect Donald Trump has also said he would block the sale. Franco

Ordonez, NPR News. Wall Street at last checked. The Dow is up 260 points. This is NPR News. Police in Southern California say two people died yesterday in an afternoon crash of a small plane into the roof of a sprawling furniture manufacturing building. The dead were believed to have been on the plane. Several people inside the building were injured. Federal regulators are investigating. In South Korea, investigators and police tried and failed to arrest impeached South Korean

President Yoon Song-yol today. They were blocked by Yoon's security detail. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports Yoon is accused of insurrection stemming from his botched call for martial law one month ago. Around 150 police and investigators tried to execute an arrest warrant at Yoon's residence Friday morning. A crowd of Yoon's supporters rallied outside. The investigators got past a military unit guarding the residence, but Yoon's security

detail wouldn't let them in on the grounds that there were military secrets inside. Both sides accused the other side of obstructing justice and abusing their powers. There's no precedent to go by, as no sitting South Korean president has ever been arrested. Investigators left after a six-hour long standoff and will consider their next move. The arrest warrant is valid until Monday. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Seoul. The most on-time airline in the world is Aeromexico,

according to data company Sirium. In 2024, 87% of Aeromexico's flights arrived on time. Just behind Aeromexico for on-time performance, Saudi Arabian Airlines Saudia and Atlanta-based Delta Airlines, a computer snap who last summer caused thousands of flight cancellations, Delta still outperformed other US airlines. This is NPR.