NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-29-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have outlined their plans to slash the federal workforce with the help of a team of quote small government crusaders. What's in store for federal workers and how are they planning for change? This January 1A's dot gov series guides you through various government agencies and the people working for you. Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Fire officials in Washington, DC are at the scene of a plane crash at Ronald Reagan National Airport tonight. The FAA says a regional passenger jet operated by PSA Airlines on behalf of American Airlines has collided midair with a Blackhawk helicopter.

The accident happened as the jet of Bombardier CRJ-700 was attempting to land on runway at Reagan National Airport around 9 p.m. local time. Jet operating as a flight for American Airlines had departed from Wichita, Kansas. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. While President Trump's budget office has walked back a memo that put out freezing spending on federal grants, it's still not clear where things stand at the moment. The announcement's sparking widespread confusion.

A federal judge intervened, holding the memo last night, but NPR's Domenico Montanaro says, don't expect the administration to slow down. The idea is what you've seen. Make things unclear. Make people exhausted. Make it harder for the media to focus on one thing and make it harder for the opposition to organize a message around what you've seen. Make things unclear, make people exhausted, make it harder for the media to focus on one thing, and make it harder for the opposition to organize a message around what to focus on.

But the backlash to this spending freeze memo shows that there are limits to that kind of strategy. Just because something is done fast doesn't necessarily mean it's the best way to run the government, and this is now the first major misstep by the Trump administration. But don't think this is going to mean any kind of dialing back. MPR's Domenico Montanaro. President Trump has signed an executive order limiting how race and gender can be taught in public schools. MPR's Adrian Florido reports the order aims to pull federal funding from K-12 schools that promote what the administration calls discriminatory equity ideology. The president's order borrows language from bills that some Republican-led states have

adopted to restrict the teaching of critical race theory and gender identity. Those states have made it harder or illegal for teachers to talk about subjects like white privilege, unconscious bias, or non-binary genders. Critics have blasted those laws as attempts to stifle honest and inclusive lessons about race and gender, but Trump's executive order calls those and similar concepts anti-American and subversive. It gives the Education Department and other federal agencies three months to produce a report with recommendations for eliminating federal funding used to teach them.

Adrian Florido, NPR News. The Federal Reserve has decided to hold interest rates. NPR's Scott Horsley reports. After cutting interest rates three times since September, Fed policymakers voted unanimously to leave their benchmark rate unchanged. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell declined to comment on President Trump's demand for lower interest rates. Powell says it's still uncertain how Trump's own policies might affect the economic outlook. We don't know what will happen with tariffs, with immigration,

with fiscal policy, and with regulatory policy. Stocks reacted mildly today. The Dow was down just over 100 points. You're listening to NPR. Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been handed an 11-year prison sentence for his conviction in a scheme that brought him cash, gold bars, and even a luxury car. Once one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, Menendez was convicted as acting as an agent of the Egyptian government. Two businessmen received lesser sentences over their role in the international bribery scheme. 71-year-old Menendez was tried separately from his wife in the case. Rebels and Rwandan troops are cementing their control over the city of Goma, a key city

in the middle rich eastern democratic republic of Congo. The city is a vital strategic and commercial hub that sits on the border with Rwanda. It's captured by rebels after a lightning offensive has increased the likelihood of a broader regional war. Emmett Livingstone reports from Goma. After days sheltering inside during intense urban combat, people began to come out onto the streets. Some residents began to take advantage of the lack of state control and general confusion.

Looting was reported across the city, including at a UN base. Fighters, presumably from the M23, were dispatched to restore order, firing warning shots in the area. People scattered or fell to the ground to take cover. I saw one fighter detain a group of men and women who were on their knees, begging for mercy. After the fighters left, it took all of ten minutes for people to return and pick up the goods that had been left strewn across the street. For NPR News, I'm Emmett Livingstone in Goma.

I'm repeating this hour's top story. Fire officials in Washington, D.C. are at the scene of a plane crash at Ronald Reagan National Airport. A commercial plane apparently has hit a Black Hawk helicopter. This is NPR. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. Sending NPR.