NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-21-2025 11PM EST

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The Supreme Court has declined to take up the Trump administration's request to uphold his firing of an independent ethics watchdog. But as NPR's Stephen Fowler reports, the procedural decision does not address the merits of President Trump's arguments. Trump asked the Supreme Court to block a court order issued February 12th that reinstated the head of the Office of Special Counsel for two weeks while the judge considered the larger case. The short shelf life of that ruling means it usually can't be appealed, but Trump's lawyers tried anyways.

After the DC Court of Appeals declined to make an exception, Trump went to the Supreme Court, who also did not step in. This was a procedural question that does not address the administration's larger legal argument that the president has complete power to determine who runs executive agencies, even independent ones. Stephen Vowler, NPR News. The Trump administration meanwhile plans to gut the federal office that funds homelessness programs. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that any massive staff cuts would take place as the number of people without housing is at a record high. Trump's efficiency team, DOJ, wants to cut staff at the federal housing agency by half. But the office that funds homelessness would lose more, 84 percent, according to a document

NPR has seen. Ann Oliva, with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, says that would go far beyond Washington D.C. We are talking about staff who directly support their communities in field offices all over the country. A spokesperson says the housing agency continues to carry out its critical functions. Local nonprofits are waiting to receive several billion dollars

for rent and other support to keep people off the streets. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington. Election officials from around the country are urging Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to cut services aimed at making elections safe and secure from foreign influences. NPR's Ashley Lopez has this report. The National Association of Secretaries of State,

a nonpartisan organization of state election officials, wrote that they want to continue to be able to voluntarily coordinate with DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, also known as CISA. These partnerships, they say, have helped them defend their infrastructure against national security threats. That includes cybersecurity and physical security services provided by CISA. Since taking office, the Trump administration has put various election security advisors

working at CISA on administrative leave. This is raising concerns about the safety of American elections, which are mostly administered by state and local officials. Ashley Lopez, NPR News. Six weeks after wildfires devastated large areas around Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass has fired that city's fire chief.

Bass says she removed chief Kristen Crowley because of what she said were missteps in the preparation for the fires. Bass says 1,000 firefighters could have been on duty the morning of the fires broke out but they were instead sent home. You're listening to NPR News. Schools in South Sudan are being closed for two weeks because of an extreme heat wave that's causing some students around the country to collapse. An education official says that on average, 12 students have been collapsing in schools in the capital of Juba each day.

Most schools around the country do not have electricity to power air conditioning. They're also often made of mud or bricks and iron sheets. R&B legend Jerry Butler has died at his home at the age of 85. A baritone known as Iceman, he rose to fame in the 1950s with fellow Chicagoan Curtis Mayfield in the duet band The Impressions. Noah Jennings, a member station WBEZ, has this remembrance. In a 2004 interview with WBEZ, Butler said it was the church that inspired his musical career. The first place mother usually takes a young son is to church. And no matter how off key or out of key that young person sings, somebody's gonna say amen. And so you get this encouragement out of the church.

That encouragement led to a long solo career that saw 38 of his songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Impressions in 1991. For NPR News, I'm Noah Jennings in Chicago. The New York Yankees have dropped their band on players wearing beards. The band was put in place by former owner George Steinbrenner 49 years ago. His son Hal now runs the team. In a statement, Hal Steinbrenner said it's now the appropriate time to move beyond the former policy and allow beards.

I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.