NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-08-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

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Support for NPR in the following message come from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help NPR produce programming that meets the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The Trump administration is renewing calls for more funding from Congress this week. They're asking for money for detaining and deporting people suspected of being in the country without authorization. Amparas Jimena-Bastillo reports. Since the start of the Trump administration, officials say they have arrested over 8,000 people, but not all have been held in detention. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters

at the White House this week that over 400 people that were arrested by federal immigration officials have already been released. Some of the factors include a lack of significant likelihood of removal in the foreseeable future, lack of detention availability, which is something this president and this administration has been incredibly vocal about. She added that some had serious medical conditions and none have had final deportation orders. The lead agency in charge of stopping illegal immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has long warned that it may not have enough physical space to handle Trump's efforts to ramp up enforcement. Jimena Bustier, NPR News, Washington. The Treasury Department has named an ally of Elon Musk to oversee the federal government's

vast payment system. NPR's Scott Horsley reports that the move comes after the Trump administration's sidelined a career staffer who tried to keep Musk's team at bay. The agency has tapped Silicon Valley executive Tom Krause to serve as assistant treasury secretary overseeing a bureau within the department that's responsible for trillions of dollars in annual government payments. The move could give Elon Musk's ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency more power to control those payments. The administration previously said Krause and another Musk surrogate had limited read-only

access to the payment system. Last week, a career staffer who oversaw that system was placed on administrative leave when he reportedly tried to block Musk allies from halting some payments. The staffer later retired. Scott Horsley in PR News, Washington. A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to plans by the Trump administration to force thousands of people working overseas for the U.S. Agency for International Development to return home within 30 days.

Trump also wanted to place the employees on administrative leave. The Trump-appointed judge said the moves would have exposed workers and their families to unwarranted risk and expense. Crews in Alaska are rushing to try and recover the remains of 10 people who died this week when their small commuter plane crashed on an ice floe off the Alaska coast. The Coast Guard did locate the aircraft on the ice about 34 miles southeast of Nome. Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Michael Salerno says the bodies of seven of the people remain trapped in the plane wreckage. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski offered her condolences to the victims and

their families. Words really can't express the loss that we're all feeling at this point in time. We're all connected. The crash site is being threatened by expected high winds and snow along with unstable sea ice Stocks finished the week down on Friday the Dow closed down 444 points this is NPR news Hamas and Israel will have another exchange Saturday Hamas says it's ready to hand over three more Israeli hostages in return for 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. It's the latest in a series of swaps that have so far led to the return of 18 hostages held by Hamas.

The exchange is a part of the ceasefire that began last month that's aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza. European far-right and populist parties will gather in Madrid this weekend under the banner, Make Europe Great Again. As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, the groups have seen how effective that language has been in the US.

The Madrid summit will bring together many of Europe's far-right stars, like France's Marine Le Pen and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They'll join representatives of Spain's far-right Vox party which is holding the event. They're all part of a newly organized far-right opposition party in the European Parliament called Patriots. Patriots was founded after the far-right made inroads in last June's European Parliament elections. Gone is the rhetoric of leaving the EU.

These populist right-wing parties mean to come together to influence European institutions from within. Eleanor Beardsley in Pierre News, Paris. President Donald Trump has revoked former President Joe Biden's security clearances. He has also stopped his daily intelligence briefings. Biden had stopped Trump's briefings when Biden took office, citing concerns over Trump's handling of classified material after he left office. Former presidents usually receive intelligence briefings of some form after they leave.

I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.