NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-07-2025 7AM EST

Episode Date: February 7, 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 U.S. tour. To learn more, visit npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Visit npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. House Republicans are racing to unveil a new framework for a budget plan as early as today. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports it's part of a larger President Trump plan to install sweeping

legislation that will address the border, taxes, and more. House Republican leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, met at the White House for about five hours on Thursday in hopes of reaching a final plan. President Trump was part of the first hour of the meeting urging the group to get it done. Senate leaders are also racing to put together their own proposal to be unveiled during a meeting with Trump in Florida this weekend. The spending plan is expected to include provisions to fund new projects along the U.S.-Mexico border, extend tax breaks approved during Trump's first term, as well as other campaign promises.

Claudia Grisales, NPR News. The Senate has confirmed President Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget. As NPR's Azmahallid reports, Russell Vogt was confirmed on a party-line vote of 53-47. Vogt was a chief architect of the conservative agenda known as Project 2025, which outlined ways to expand presidential power. During Trump's first term, Vote tried to reshape the civil service by creating a new class of federal workers who would be loyal to the president rather than the agency they

work for. He's also a supporter of what's known as impoundment. That's when a president essentially holds back money that Congress has already approved for a specific purpose. Democrats were powerless to stop his confirmation, but they took to the Senate floor delivering speech after speech to voice their opposition. Asma Khalid, NPR News. Some big companies have publicly canceled their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, but many others are doing the same thing but quietly. An NPR analysis of regulatory filings found that at least a dozen of the

largest U.S. companies have deleted some or all references to DEI from their most recent annual reports to investors. NPR's Maria Aspin has more. A few of these companies referred specifically to President Trump's new executive orders ending DEI in the federal government. These orders also threaten to sanction private companies that are federal contractors that have what Trump called illegal DEI programs. And Google, for example, is a federal contractor. A spokesperson this week told me that Google is evaluating the changes required by Trump's

executive orders and Google, I should note, is one of NPR's funders. And here's Maria Aspen reporting. She says companies are also under pressure from conservative critics who say DEI programs are themselves discriminatory. U.S. futures contracts are trading in mixed territory at this hour. You're listening to NPR News. Northwest scientists were trying to better understand the volcanic landscape of the Cascade Mountain Range in Oregon. What they found instead was water, lots

of it. From member station Northwest Public Broadcasting, Lauren Patterson has more. Researchers have discovered a mountain aquifer in the Oregon Cascades. The volume of water is about three times the maximum capacity of Lake Mead. Gordon Grant is a research hydrologist for the U.S. Forest Service. We have a lot of water and it is sensitive to a changing climate and we have to be thinking along these lines if we want to plan into the future. Grant says understanding how much water is in play in this large volcanic aquifer could influence decisions about how to manage the forests and water resources

throughout the West. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Patterson in Orifino, Idaho. Ellie Dodgers star Shohei Otane's former interpreter, Ipe Mizuhara, has been sentenced nearly five years in prison. He pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud and false tax return charges. A federal investigation found that he took advantage of his friendship with Otani by secretly stealing nearly $17 million from the Dodgers' MVP.

Mizuhara used that money to place bets and cover his gambling debts with an illegal bookmaker. He is required to pay nearly $17 million in restitution and about $1 million to the IRS, that's according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher down. Futures are up about one-tenth of a percent. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Hey, it's Robin Hilton from NPR Music in Washington.