NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-07-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

NPR News: 02-07-2025 9AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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 Starsearch starts now and the winner will play their own tiny desk concert and a US tour to learn more visit NPR org slash tiny desk contest Live from NPR news in Washington Visit npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. The Senate has confirmed President Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vogt.

And Piers Aschalad has more. 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. Unions representing federal workers are suing the Trump administration to stop it from dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, accusing the government of creating a global humanitarian crisis. USAID oversees foreign aid, disaster relief, and international development programs, but the cuts will also affect U.S. farmers. Randy Chester is vice president of the American Foreign Services Association. USAID sources the vast majority of its food relief supplies from American farmers. All the grain, all the soybeans, all the corn. I'm not sure where those American farmers

are going to now sell those surplus grains. Chester says the agency will have to stop food distribution in the field because there will be no one to distribute it. This says USAID is placing all its direct hire employees around the world on leave except for core leadership and mission-critical staff and plans to terminate most of its contractors starting today. Fewer than 300 staffers deemed essential are set to continue working. A member of the Trump administration's government efficiency cost cutting team led by Elon Musk has resigned after a now deleted racist post resurfaced on social media. And Pierce Bobby Allen has more.

The White House has confirmed that Marco Alas has resigned as a top staffer on Musk's Doge team. Alas is a software engineer who had been given access to the Treasury Department systems that process trillions of dollars of government payments every year. The Wall Street Journal uncovered deleted posts on X in which Elez said, normalize Indian hate and, I just want a eugenic immigration policy. Is that too much to ask, among other hateful screeds?

NPR has independently confirmed the posts. The Doge team has come under scrutiny by former government officials for just how much power they seem to be wielding from inside of the White House. That's included nearly dismantling the $40 billion U.S. agency for international development. Bobbi Allen, NPR News. The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected last month. Labor Department says 143,000 jobs were created in January. This is NPR News. The commissioner and chair of the Federal Election Commission says President Trump tried

to fire her by letter. But Ellen Weintraub, who served as a Democratic commissioner on the bipartisan committee since 2002, says the action is illegal. She says she's considering her options on how to respond. The FEC is the country's top campaign watchdog agency with six commissioners, three aligned with Democrats and three aligned with Republicans. Normally a commissioner is removed only after a presidential nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Trump has not nominated a successor to Weintraub

and confirmation hearings would take weeks. Epidemiologists have spotted two surprising trends driving all the coughing, sneezing, and fevers making people miserable during this winter's virus season. And Piers Robstein has more. The first surprising trend is good news. So far this year's winter COVID surge is the mildest since the pandemic began. That's probably because this summer's COVID surge was unusually intense and started late, so lots of people probably still have immunity from the summer. The second surprising trend is not so good news. The U.S. appears to be

experiencing a second surge of flu this winter. The reason for that remains unclear but suggests the intensity of this year's flu season could have a long tail. Rob Stein, NPR News. U.S. futures contracts are trading in mixed territory at this hour. Dow futures are up nearly one-tenth of a percent. NASDAQ futures down a fraction. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Extreme weather disasters like wildfires and floods can devastate communities. On the Sunday story from Up First, we ask, are there places that just aren't safe to live anymore? People are going to die. They will be me and my neighbors, and I don't want that to happen. How we respond to disasters in an era of climate insecurity.

Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR.