NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-04-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Sources tell NPR that President Trump is preparing to take executive action to make major cuts at the Department of Education. NPR's Corey Turner reports the move is part of a series of sweeping changes the administration is making within federal agencies. Multiple sources not allowed to speak publicly tell NPR the Trump administration is preparing to take executive action to cut and try to close the department. The two-prong plan is to quickly shrink it from the inside by shedding programs that

were not explicitly created by Congress and thus not protected by law. The challenge there is the department itself and most of its signature responsibilities are protected and can only be changed by Congress. This includes administering Title I, which sends extra funding to low-income schools, and IDEA, the civil rights law that safeguards special education. The potential executive action would call on Congress to strip the department of these duties and wind it down. Corey Turner, NPR News. The Trump administration has made deals with Canada and Mexico that hold off on President Trump's threat to impose 25% tariffs against those countries. Trump says the aim is to stem the flow of the deadly drug fentanyl into the US.

But NPR's Brian Mann found many of the White House statements about fentanyl were either false or greatly exaggerated. President Trump says drug deaths claim up to 300,000 lives in the U.S. every year. And White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt on Friday said tariffs are directly linked to fentanyl from Canada, China, and Mexico that caused tens of millions of American deaths. Both numbers are hugely inflated. Fentanyl deaths occur in the tens of thousands and fatal overdoses were dropping fast

before these trade wars were announced. Also, law enforcement experts agree Canada plays no meaningful role in the US fentanyl crisis. More than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the US southern border last year, only 50 pounds at the Canadian border. Brian Mann, NPR News. The Senate has confirmed President Trump's pick to lead the Department of Energy. NPR's Giles Snyder reports the upper chamber voted last night to confirm Christopher Wright.

Chris Wright runs Senate confirmation on a 59 to 38 bipartisan vote. Seven Democrats and one Independent do caucuses with them across the aisle to approve Wright's nomination. Wright is an oil and gas company executive who acknowledges that human-caused climate change is real, but he's argued against a reduction in fossil fuels and is expected to lead a shift away from clean energy initiatives. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote today on whether to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to become the nation's next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

This is NPR News in Washington. Salvage crews in Washington, D.C. have recovered an engine and large pieces of fuselage from last week's deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and military helicopter. Sixty-seven people died in the crash. An investigation is ongoing. The increase of marijuana sales across the country is also boosting popularity of weed vapes. But as NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, little is known about the safety of these products. There is scant research on the health effects of vaping marijuana. Like

e-cigarettes, they may offer some benefits over smoking. But that's not clear because vapes also contain chemical additives other than psychoactive THC, and each vape brand can contain very different additives. Josh Sweeter runs Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs, which safety tests marijuana products. He regularly finds additives in vapes that evade state regulations. Pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, micro toxins. Sweeter advises consumers of vaped weed to seek out brands committed to rigorous safety standards.

Yuki Noguchi, NPR News. United Airlines says it will resume service from New York to Tel Aviv starting on March 15. The company says the decision follows a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Western carriers had cancelled their flights to multiple destinations in the Middle East amid heightened security concerns. This is NPR News.