NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-03-2026 6AM EST

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The House is supposed to start voting as early as today on spending legislation. They could bring a partial federal government shutdown to an end. But House Democrats have balked. They want changes to the Department of Homeland Security. This after federal agents shot and killed two Minneapolis protesters. Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security need to dramatically change.

and absent that, then a full-year appropriations bill is in deep trouble. The Senate changed the spending legislation last week. It keeps five agency funding bills in place, but it only pays for homeland security for two weeks. House Speaker Mike Johnson. The DHS bill will be debated the Saturday over the next two weeks, so we'll have to see. Meanwhile, federal employees who are required to show up for their jobs, no matter what, such as air traffic. controllers are again working without pay. A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump from ending a program that lets Haitians stay in the U.S. 330,000 Haitians are under temporary protected status or TPS. Now they'll be able to remain in the U.S. for six more months.

From member station WBUR in Boston, Simone Rios reports. Haitians across the country have been awaiting the decision for weeks. In the Boston area, a Haitian named Davidson, who, asked to use his first name only for fear of being targeted by immigration officials, says the decision comes as a relief, even if it only postpones the inevitable. But I just hope that during those six months, you know, they give us like the opportunity, you know, either to adjust the status or probably open a new door for us to be able to stay longer than that.

The six-month extension allows Haitians to stay in the country, while the case challenging the way the program was terminated plays out in court. The government could still appeal. For NPR News, I'm Simone Rios in Boston. The Justice Department has released millions of more documents in the case of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But within those pages are the names and photos of alleged Epstein victims that the federal government was supposed to remove. And B.R.'s Jacqueline Diaz reports. As part of its required disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein files,

the Justice Department was supposed to redact any sexually explicit images and information that could identify victims. They failed to do that in some cases before releasing around 3 million documents last Friday. In some cases, even nude images of young women or possibly even teens, were released. The DOJ in a statement says it takes victim protection, quote, very seriously, unquote, and that they've taken down pages where they were notified of identifiable information that was released. Jacqueline Diaz and PR News. On Wall Street and pre-market trading, Dow futures are lower. This is NPR.

The Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed she was at a Georgia election office last week because President Trump told her to go there. Federal officials used a search warrant to take out hundreds of boxes of Georgia ballots and other materials from the 2020 presidential election. Trump has repeatedly lied and said he won that election. President Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro meet at the White House today. they've heavily criticized each other. Trump has suggested Petro could be taken to the U.S., like former Venezuelan leader, Nicholas Maduro. Trump and Petro's tension has since eased a little.

Elon Musk's aerospace firm, SpaceX, says it has acquired his artificial intelligence company, XAI. And Pierre's John Rewitch reports Musk's idea is to take artificial intelligence into space. AI requires huge data centers, which require immense amounts of power and cooling. SpaceX says in a statement, global electricity demand for AI cannot be met with terrestrial solutions without imposing hardship on communities and the environment. So SpaceX says space-based AI is the answer. Satellites harnessing solar power, it says, will transform the ability to scale AI's computing power. The tie-up also has a financial angle.

Reuters reported last week that SpaceX made $8 billion in profit last year on 15 to 6,6. billion dollars in revenue. XAI, meanwhile, reportedly burns through about a billion dollars a month. John Rewitch, NPR News. Again on Wall Street in pre-market trading, Dow futures are now down about 25 points. It's NPR.