NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-06-2025 10PM EST

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

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President Trump is back in Washington, pursuing major policy changes on his own terms. We know from the past that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against the status quo. NPR is covering it all with Trump's Terms, a podcast where we curate stories about the 47th president with a focus on how he is upending the way Washington works. Listen to Trump's Terms from NPR. Live from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear.

The Trump Administration's latest action to essentially dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development would leave fewer than 300 workers out of 8,000 direct hires and contractors at the organization. Federal workers and foreign service unions quickly announced they're bringing suit against the administration seeking to halt the actions. Former UN Ambassador Samantha Power, who in the past served as the administrator at USAID, said the actions hurt not just employees and their families,

but also US interests globally. This is a disaster, not just from a humanitarian standpoint, from the standpoint of all the beneficiaries who may in fact die because they won't have access to U.S. resources, but it's a disaster for U.S. national interests and national security. Doing away with the agencies, part of ongoing efforts by Trump advisory law must to significantly reduce the size of government. USAID is working in 120 countries doing work like protecting the Amazon rainforest, fighting HIV and global

hunger. Scientists and public health leaders are taking stock of the Trump administration's abrupt decision to pull down webpages, datasets and selected information from federal health websites. Some of the pages on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that went offline last week have since reappeared, but NPR's Will Stone reports the full impact isn't yet clear. Some websites with data on infectious diseases or guidelines for clinicians have reappeared, but NPR's Will Stone reports the full impact isn't yet clear. Some websites with data on infectious diseases or guidelines for clinicians have reappeared, but researchers are busy trying to figure out what has changed or disappeared. In some cases, links are broken or words have been scrubbed.

The purge of the website and data was prompted by President Trump's executive orders on gender and diversity, equity and inclusion. Dr. Nirav Shah sits on a CDC advisory committee that is seeking answers from the agency's acting director. This is completely unprecedented. These datasets are more than statistics. They're our early warning system. Opposition to the website changes has come from across the medical and scientific community

and a progressive group representing physicians is now suing some federal health agencies. Will Stone, NPR News. A January 6 rioter who recently received a pardon from President Trump has been rearrested in Texas. NPR's Tom Dreisbach reports he was wanted on charges of online solicitation of a minor. Andrew Taka pleaded guilty to repeatedly assaulting police officers with bear spray on January 6th, and he was serving a six-year prison sentence when Trump's pardon freed him. Now authorities in Texas have re-arrested Taka to face charges from 2016. According to prosecutors' legal filings, Taka sent sexually explicit messages online

to someone he thought was a 15-year-old but was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. Taka is among the dozens of January 6th defendants NPR has identified who have prior criminal records or ongoing criminal cases. Tom Dreisbach, NPR News. Stock slows mixed down on Wall Street. The Dow down 125 points. The NASDAQ was up 99 points.

This is NPR. NASA has instructed all employees to remove pronouns from their electronic communications. As NPR's Jeff Bromfield reports, the move is the latest at the space agency to limit certain types of content. The email seen by NPR says that all pronouns will be stripped from NASA's internal directories and email systems in order to comply with several recent executive orders signed by President Trump. It says users' pronouns will be quote, automatically removed from the system this week.

It also directs NASA employees, contractors, and grantees to follow a standard format for all email signatures. NASA did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. In January, NASA's acting administrator, Janet Petro, instructed employees to end all programs directed at diversity, equity, and inclusion, saying that they, quote, divided Americans. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. LA Dodgers star Shohei Otani's former interpreter, Ipe Mizahara, has been sentenced to 57 months

and nearly five years in prison, he pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud and false tax return charges. A federal investigation found that Mizahara took advantage of his friendship with Otani by secretly stealing nearly $17 million from the Dodgers' MVP. Mizahara used that money to place bets and cover his gambling debts with an illegal bookmaker. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mizohara is required to pay nearly $17 million in restitution to Otani and about $1 million to the IRS. Crude oil futures settled lower after President Trump reiterated a pledge to raise production.

Oil fell 42 cents a barrel to 70.61 a barrel in New York. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. Support for NPR News in Washington.