NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-21-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. The U.S. Treasury Department has agreed to limit DOJ's access to IRS data amid concerns about protecting personal information on taxpayers. Meanwhile, the IRS says more than 6,000 mostly probationary employees will lose their jobs under layoffs by DOJ, the White House's cost-cutting office. Critics fear the cuts will affect customer service and efforts to go after wealthy tax cheaters. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell has announced plans

to retire when his term ends next year. As NPR's Deirdre Walsh reports, 83-year-old Republican is the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history. McConnell stepped down from his leadership position last year after questions about his health. His legacy includes installing conservative judges who shaped the federal judiciary. He touted the chamber's advice and consent duty. And I've been honored to perform my role in confirming judges who understand their role.

His departure comes as the Republican Party shifts from traditional conservatism to one dominated by President Trump's brand of populism and an America first stance overseas. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News. Billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk has weighed in on efforts by the U.S. and Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Musk has told the annual Conference of Conservatives gathered outside Washington that the conflict is causing needless deaths. So what's actually happening is that those poor guys are getting sent into a meat grinder

for money. That's what's actually going on. Yeah. And it needs to stop. The U.S. is pressuring Ukraine to hold elections, cede land that Russia has already invaded, and share its rare earth minerals as payback for U.S. military aid it's received since the war began. Ukraine's president insists that his nation will not accept any ceasefire proposal.

It did not help to negotiate. Israeli officials have halted all bus and train service across the country following three bus explosions. No injuries were reported as a result of Thursday's attacks. NPR's Hidyal Al-Shalchi has more. Israeli officials said the buses had finished their routes and were parked in different lots in the southern Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam. Police said it found explosives on two other buses which did not detonate. Those bombs were identical and equipped with timers. Bomb squads were able to defuse them.

Immediately after the explosions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office ordered the military to intensify its incursions in the West Bank where it has escalated operations. The military says it is trying to root out militants. The explosions come at a sensitive time. Hamas returned the bodies of four Israeli hostages earlier that day and are expected to release six live Israeli hostages on Saturday. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News. U.S. futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

This is NPR. Mexico's leader Claudia Schoenbaum says she'll propose constitutional reforms to protect her nation's sovereignty. The move is seen as an attempt to prepare Mexico for the event of any foreign military intervention. It comes after the Trump administration designated six Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist groups. Schoenbaum says Mexico will not allow any outside involvement in its investigations

or prosecutions without her government's approval or cooperation. Special prosecutors in New York have charged 10 state corrections workers over the death of an inmate. From member station WXXI, Jung Yoon Han has more, the indictment unsealed Thursday. The charges include second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault, and tampering of evidence. That's after a weeks-long investigation into the beating death of Robert Brooks at Mercy Correctional Facility near Utica in December that was caught on body camera footage and sparked outrage across the country. The indictment states that the officers acted with quote,

depraved indifference to human life as several officers beat Brooks while others stood by and did nothing to stop the abuse. Governor Kathy Hochul has called for the termination of those involved. For NPR News, I'm Jeongyeon Han in Albany, New York. Governor Hochul says she will not seek to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office. Adams is still awaiting a federal court ruling on the Trump administration's effort to dismiss corruption charges against him. Several federal prosecutors resigned after the DOJ was ordered to drop the case. This is NPR News.