NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-13-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

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At the Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar indeed performed his smash diss track Not Like Us and brought out Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams, and SZA. We're recapping the Super Bowl, including why we saw so many celebrities in commercials this year. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm JanPR NEWS ANCHOR, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, NPR NEWS world, including India. The Trump administration says these new tariffs would not be ready until April at the earliest. But it is certainly significant for trade relations. Trump has repeatedly singled India out for its high tariff rates on U.S. imports. At his joint press conference with his Indian counterpart, Trump put it

this way. I had discussions with India in the first term about the fact that their tariffs were very high and I was unable to get a concession. So we're just going to do it the easy way and we're just going to say whatever you charge, we charge. The president also said that India's prime minister has agreed to begin negotiations over long-running trade disparities with the goal of signing an agreement. Asma Khalid, NPR News.

A federal judge has extended for another week the pause on the Trump administration's plan to put thousands of federal employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave. NPR's Hansi Luong reports another ruling on that controversial plan is expected next week. For now, the Trump administration is still blocked from putting more than 2,000 USAID workers on leave. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols is now set to decide whether that continues past February

21st. That uncertainty is wrecking havoc among many USAID employees, especially those stationed overseas, says Susan Reichli, a retired senior career officer for the agency. People are living in fear because it's not as though they come home and they have a house to return to and their kids automatically go into a school. They have no idea what their future holds. In court, the Trump administration argues it's conducting a review of USAID's work to make sure it's aligned with Trump's foreign policy.

But its challengers say the administration is overstepping its limited authority over an independent federal agency created by Congress. Hansi Lawong, NPR News, Washington. Scores of early-career federal employees are being fired from several agencies today, including the Department of Energy. And Piers Jeff Brumfield has more. Two officials at the Energy Department confirmed the firings to NPR. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The firings are of so-called probationary employees who have worked for less than two years in the federal government. According to one of the sources, the employees are being fired without notice or severance. The Energy Department conducts a wide variety of activities, everything from funding renewables to carrying out fundamental science to maintaining the nation's nuclear weapons. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News, Washington. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher at this hour, all three major indices up around

one tenth of a percent. This is NPR. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been sworn in as the Secretary of Health and Human Services after being confirmed by the Senate today. That was over fierce opposition from Democrats, though, over his views on vaccines and from the right over his past views on abortion. The department handles Medicaid and Medicare, popular programs that ensure around 140 million Americans.

He will also oversee vaccine policy, and Kennedy is one of the country's most prominent vaccine opponents. Africa's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the freeze in U.S. foreign assistance is hurting efforts to control the spread of M-pox in Africa. And Piers Gabriella Emanuel has more. The U.S. had helped the Democratic Republic of Congo with their M-pox response by funding things like the training of health workers and the provision of diagnostic kits. N'Gashi N'Gongo, with Africa CDC, says the U.S. used to pay for suspected M-pox samples to be

securely transported from clinics to the lab, but no longer. And he's seeing a steep drop in the number of samples making it to the lab for testing. We are scaling up the equipment for laboratory capacity, but the transportation of samples has become a nightmare. In addition to the funding freeze, rebel violence at the epicenter of the outbreak in eastern DRC has hurt MPOC's control efforts. Gabriella Emanuel, NPR News.

JANINE HERPST Wall Street was higher by the closing bell, the Dow up 342 points, the NASDAQ up 295. I'm Janine Herpst, NPR News in Washington. NPR News 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.