NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-24-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

NPR News: 01-24-2025 3PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Hurst. President Trump says he will sign an executive order to reform, overhaul, or possibly close the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, saying it's too slow and bureaucratic. We're getting the Corps of the Army Corps of Engineers all set. You need your riverbanks fixed, you need a lot of roads fixed, and we're gonna get it done in rapid time. He says states need to take care of their own natural resources and they know best what they need. Trump made the comments in North Carolina earlier today where he toured the

months long recovery from the remnants of Hurricane Helene. Catastrophic flooding destroyed homes and buildings and killed 266 people. Trump is now heading to California where he will tour wildfire damage in and around Los Angeles and meet with Governor Gavin Newsom. He says he will provide aid to that state, but only if California implements voter ID and loosens its environmental laws. Trump has criticized state lawmakers over the wildfire response and the lack of water and fire hydrants in L.A.

A federal judge is barring the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers Extremist Group from entering Washington, D.C. Stuart Rhodes was also prohibited from entering the U.S. Capitol without the court's approval. NPR's Ryan Lucas has more. Oath Keepers founder and leader Stuart Rhodes was convicted by a federal jury of seditious conspiracy

in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, by a mob jury of seditious conspiracy in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 by a mob of Trump supporters. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Rhodes to 18 years in prison and called him an ongoing threat to the country. On Monday, after taking office again, President Trump commuted Rhodes' sentence to time served, and since his release from prison, Rhodes was spotted at the U.S. Capitol. Now, Judge Mehta has issued an order prohibiting Rhodes and seven other oath keepers convicted in connection with the Capitol riot from entering Washington, D.C. or the U.S. Capitol building or grounds without first obtaining the court's permission.

Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Danielle Pletka Minnesota state politics are in turmoil, as both Republicans and Democrats say they should control the state house while a legal challenge plays out. Minnesota public radio's Dana Ferguson has more. Republicans and Democrats came out of the November election in a tie but Democrats have since lost a seat to a residency challenge. Republicans argue that they have a majority and should be able to use it. Democrats have boycotted to stop legislative sessions. The Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a pair of challenges from

House Democrats and the Secretary of State. Chief Justice Natalie Hudson said the court faces a difficult situation. What we have is a co-equal branch of government that is completely dysfunctional. The court could agree to strike the current power structure, let it stand, or go another direction. For NPR News, I'm Dana Ferguson in St. Paul. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. President Trump has ended the federal security detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised him on the pandemic.

And he says he wouldn't feel any responsibility if Fauci were harmed. Fauci is the latest in a string of former Trump aides turned critics to see their federal protection canceled despite ongoing threats to their lives. Fauci has reportedly now hired his own security detail. The first anniversary of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death is coming up in February. MPs Eleanor Beardsley reports Navalny's head lawyer now lives in Paris, where she spoke to a small group

of mostly Russian expats. Olga Mikhailova was Navalny's lawyer for 16 years. She told the group the Kremlin continues to seek revenge by punishing Navalny's lawyers. Last week, three of his lawyers were given multi-year sentences for associating with Navalny, whom the Russian government has called an extremist. Mikhailova escaped that fate because she was outside of Russia on vacation when the arrests were made in October 2023. She has since been granted asylum in France. Mikhailova says her biggest regret is being unable to convince Navalny not to return to Russia from

Germany where he'd been recovering from a poisoning. He was arrested at the Moscow airport upon landing in January 2021 and died in prison two years later. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. Wall Street is trading lower. The Dow is down 150 points, NASDAQ down 116. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.