NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-10-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

NPR News: 02-10-2025 8PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Donald Trump is starting his second term as president. What will his administration do and what policies will it promote? On the NPR Politics Podcast, we'll break down what the new administration does and explain why it matters. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast every day. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Donald Trump has signed an executive action aimed at restraining a 1977 law that bans bribery of foreign officials. Trump's saying the law sounds good on paper but in practicality it's a disaster.

It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there legally, legitimately or otherwise, it's almost a guaranteed investigation, indictment, and nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it. Trump also signed an executive action allowing the government to buy paper straws, the president saying, quote, I don't think that plastic is going to affect the shark very much as they're munching their way through the ocean. A federal judge in Boston has further paused the Trump administration's offer to federal employees to resign now in exchange for pay and benefits to September. NPR's Andrea Shue reports.

U.S. District Judge George O'Toole heard arguments for about an hour. An attorney representing labor unions that have sued to block the offer argued that federal employees have suffered harm from the short deadline the Trump administration set for accepting the offer. The point she says was to scare employees into resigning. The Trump administration's lawyer, meanwhile, argued that the deal was a humane off-ramp for people who aren't comfortable

with the uncertainty ahead with Trump's overhaul of the federal workforce. O'Toole said very little during the hearing. Afterwards, the court issued a statement extending the pause he issued last week until, quote, further order of the court. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Well, on Musk and a group of investors have offered to buy chat GPT maker OpenAI for nearly $98 billion. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, the problem is OpenAI says it's not for sale.

Musk sending an unsolicited bid to take over OpenAI comes as Musk's lawsuit against the company unfolds. The billionaire-turned White House insider has long said OpenAI betrayed its original mission as a non-profit research lab and instead prioritized profits and growth. It's a criticism shared by others in Silicon Valley, not just Musk, who was an early OpenAI funder. Tech critics on the left also argue OpenAI has deviated from its founding principles. But Musk's lawyers publicizing an offer to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion prompted a swift rebuttal from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman wrote on X, no thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.7 billion if you want.

That reply, of course, is not serious. Bobby Allen in PR News. The Justice Department has sent a letter to federal prosecutors telling them to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. That's according to a DOJ official confirmed on background. Adams became mayor in January of 2020. He was indicted in September of 2020 for on five federal charges, including bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions. The mayor has denied any wrongdoing in the case, as Police Commissioner, school chancellor,

and other key members of his team resigned last year. This is NPR. President Trump has announced today he plans to pardon former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. That's according to a person familiar with his plans, not authorized to speak publicly. Trump commuted the former governor's 14-year corruption sentence during his first term. Trump was expected to sign the pardon today. Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 on charges that included seeking to sell an appointment to then-President Barack Obama's old Senate seat.

For the fourth year in a row, Utah lawmakers have passed legislation that directly affects transgender people. As Sage Miller of Member Station KUER reports, the new bill concerns where transgender students attending Utah's public colleges and universities can live. Utah lawmakers are sending a bill to Republican Governor Spencer Cox that would ban transgender students from living in sex-designated dorm rooms that align with their gender identity. Instead, they would have to live in a room that matches their sex assigned at birth or in a gender neutral dorm.

Supporters argue the legislation protects the privacy of women, but opponents say it puts a target on transgender students and disregards their privacy. There are no exceptions to the law, even if the student has changed their birth certificate. The law would be if the student has changed their birth certificate. The law would be among the first restrictions of transgender rights aimed specifically at public university housing. For NPR News, I'm Sage Miller in Salt Lake City. They cost more to make than they are worth and have probably been piling up around your

house for years. The lowly penny, which for decades has been targeted for extinction. Now, there's word the Trump administration's ordered the US Mint to stop making the penny. So pennies do have their fansum sighting usefulness for charity drives. This is NPR. This message comes from NYU Langone. The NYU Langone Health app gives you access to your electronic health record. Keep track of your visits, lab results, and images all in one place.

Better Health starts with a Better Health System.