NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-28-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

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Want to know what it's like to play behind the tiny desk? If you've got the talent, we've got the desk. Unsigned artists, enter the 2025 tiny desk contest for an opportunity to play your own tiny desk concert. Our nationwide star search starts now and the winner will play their own tiny desk concert and a US tour. To learn more visit npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. House Republicans are holding their annual policy retreat at the president's resort, Trump National Doral Miami. President Trump told those gathered that the GOP

is forging a new political majority that's replacing the New Deal policies of the last half century. In a single week, I've taken over 350 executive actions. We've signed 300 and whoever heard of that one. And as I said in my inaugural address, the American decline is over. It's over. Trump says he's eager to work with Congress on passing the largest tax cuts in history. He also warned that the Wall Street scare or

the release of China's deep-seek AI technology should be a wake-up call for American companies to compete better. The National Science Foundation has canceled meetings to review pending research grant applications in response to executive orders. NPR's Jonathan Lampert has details. The National Science Foundation, which has a budget of around $9 billion, funds a wide range of scientific research through grants to research institutions. Over 60 grant review panels scheduled for this week were all canceled on Monday. The pause was to ensure compliance with recent executive orders from the Trump administration,

the agency said in a statement to NPR. It's unclear how long the pause could last. The delays come a week after similar pauses at the National Institutes of Health. Researchers say the uncertainty caused by the pauses could slow down scientific research. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. The Justice Department says more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal investigations of President Trump have been fired. Meanwhile, dozens of career civil service workers at the U.S. Agency for International

Development, or USAID, have been placed on paid administrative leave. A staff email cites the officials for what was described as actions appearing to circumvent an executive order. President Trump's pick to lead the Treasury Department has won Senate confirmation. Senators approve Scott Besson's nomination by a vote of 68 to 29. More from NPR's Scott Horsley. The vote signals a degree of bipartisan support for the new Treasury Secretary. Scott Besson is a billionaire hedge fund manager who's seen as a business-friendly choice. He's also a protege of Democratic mega-donor George Soros. As secretary,

Besson will be a leading voice for the administration on economic policy. He's expected to lead the push to extend and possibly expand the 2017 tax cuts. He might also help to moderate some of Trump's most protectionist instincts. B Besant told the Financial Times he thinks the president uses tariffs as a negotiating tactic. A test of that could come as early as this weekend when Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on imports from two of the country's biggest trading partners, Mexico and Canada. Scott Horsley in Pear News, Washington. US futures are flat and after hours trading on Wall Street.

This is NPR. In North Dakota, a jury is hearing testimony over a state ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors. A doctor and families of transgender children filed suit arguing that the statute violates North Dakota's constitution. Similar bans are on the books in more than two dozen states across the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are streaming into Gaza for the first time since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. As NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports, the return is part of the fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Just after sunrise, thousands of people started north, on foot, overjoyed to go home. NPR's

producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, walked with them. But along with celebration was also the sobering reality. It's very devastating for any person to see the amount of destruction. It's truly above any expectations. Destruction so great, he says many couldn't figure out where exactly they were. Israel delayed passage to the north by a day. After it said Hamas was supposed to release one of the only female civilian hostages left last weekend. Her release, along with two others, is now expected later this week. Kat Lonsdorf, MPR News, Tel Aviv.

A whole food store in Philadelphia has become the first in the grocery chain to vote in favor of a union. Fifty-seven percent of the workers there voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union seeking higher pay and other benefits. Whole Foods, which is part of the NPR contributor Amazon, has expressed disappointment over the vote. This is NPR News. Usher, Yo-Yo Ma, Boy Genius, Shaka Khan, Billie Eilish, Weird Al. vote. This is NPR News.