NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-08-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: February 8, 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 Giles Snyder.

A federal judge has blocked Elon Musk's cost-cutting team from accessing sensitive Treasury Department records. The judge issued the order overnight after 19 Democratic Attorneys General filed suit, alleging access to Treasury's central payment system by a must-cost-cutting team is a violation of federal law. They're being led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Democratic Attorneys General are taking action to keep Americans' personal data secure, to keep sensitive information about Americans private, and to uphold our Constitution.

In a separate case, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration's efforts to dismantle USAID, handing a reprieve to some 2,200 staffers who face being put on administrative leave at midnight last night. President Trump is reaffirming his support for Elon Musk and his remaking of the federal government in Pierce Danielle Kirtzleben reports. Speaking at a press conference, Trump was unclear about his own role in Doge's actions, but seemed to say he had given Musk wide rein. Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, I think everything's fertile. You know, we're a government. We have to be open.

And as an open government, I don't know, I guess you could say maybe some high intelligence or something. And I'll do that myself if I have to. He added several times that he wants Doge to target the Education Department and the military for cuts. Trump did say he doesn't plan on having Musk make changes to Social Security or Medicare, but added that the administration would be looking for fraud in those programs. Danielle Kurtzleiman in PR News, The White House. Danielle Kurtzleiman Several local governments are suing the Trump

administration over its crackdown on policies and limiting cooperation with immigration authorities. Juan Carlos Lara of Member Station KQED has more. Trump has threatened to withhold funding from local governments with these sanctuary policies and has asked federal law enforcement to investigate officials who don't assist in immigration enforcement. San Francisco City Attorney David Chu says these moves violate the Constitution's 10th Amendment, which gives states any powers not reserved for the federal government. The Trump administration is asserting a right it does not have. They are trying to tell us how to use our resources and to commandeer our local law enforcement. Santa Clara County, California,

Portland, Oregon, New Haven, Connecticut, and King County, Washington are also joining the lawsuit. For NPR News, I'm Juan Carlos Lada in San Francisco. Israel and Hamas have completed the fifth swap of hostages for prisoners under the Gaza ceasefire deal. Hamas today released three men held by the group since the October 7th attack. In exchange, Israel has released 183 Palestinian prisoners, including some convicted of involvement in deadly attacks, as well as 111 detained in Gaza after the October 7th attack. Negotiations on a

second phase of the ceasefire began earlier this week. This is NPR. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party is celebrating a big win. Official data show that Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP party has won the most seats in the state legislature of the Delhi Capital District for the first time in more than 25 years. Returns show Modi's BJP has won at least 40 seats and the 70-member assembly ousting the opposition AAP, which had ruled in New Delhi since 2015. The Trump administration now delaying the end of a loophole in import tax that's helped some companies import cheap products from China. The president just closed the loophole as part of his new tariffs on

Chinese imports, but now is pausing that plan until customs inspectors can handle that change, NPR's Alina Seljuk reports. For almost a century, U.S. law has carved out an exemption for small packages to not have to pay import duties. That's allowed packages worth under $800 to arrive in the U.S. duty-free. While most retailers ship in bulk, ultra-cheap retailers like Shien and Temu ship individual packages directly from China to shoppers in the U.S. and use the exemption to avoid paying tariffs. And that saved them millions of dollars and their popularity has exploded. President

Biden and bipartisan lawmakers in Congress have pushed to close the loophole and Trump did. But this created chaos for U.S. customs and shipping companies. And Trump has now delayed the plan unclear for how long. Alina Seluk, NPR News, Washington. The American ski racer Breezy Johnson has won gold at the Alpine World Ski Championship in Austria. Johnson won the top honor today in the women's downhill event. The gold is Johnson's first medal in a major event. This is NPR News.