NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-25-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. The Trump administration continues to send mixed signals to federal government workers about what to do with an email telling them to describe their work last week. As NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports, the deadline to respond passed last night. The Office of Personnel Management sent a government-wide email on Saturday asking federal employees to submit five things they did last week. The latest guidance from OPM says agencies should quote review responses and evaluate non responses and agency leaders can decide to exclude workers from this activity and whether to take

any appropriate actions if any employees don't participate. President Trump and Elon Musk have claimed workers who don't respond were at risk of losing their jobs. Civil service protections are in place to prevent many federal employees from being fired without cause. In a lawsuit, labor unions and other groups argue OPM has no authority to manage federal employees outside of the agency. They have asked the judge to temporarily block the administration from asking for responses to OPM's email.

Hansi Lawong in Pure News, Washington. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is visiting the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba today. It's his first trip there since joining the Trump administration. MPR Sasha Pfeiffer has more. MS – The Pentagon says while at Guantanamo, Hegseth will be briefed on operations at the base, including at the detention facility and prison complex where the administration has been holding migrants deported from the United States. The Defense Department says Hegseth will also meet with service members at the base and

aboard the USS Thomas Hudner naval destroyer. Back in 2004, Hegseth served at Guantanamo for about a year when he was a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard. Now he'll be the second senior Trump administration official to visit Guantanamo this month. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traveled there a few weeks ago. Sasha Pfeiffer, NPR News. Ahead of his meeting with President Trump this week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is increasing the UK's military spending to two and a half percent of gross domestic product by 2027. Starmer says the UK has to stand to two and a half percent of gross domestic product by 2027.

Starmer says the UK has to stand by Ukraine or face increasing threats to its security and economy. As the nature of that conflict changes, as it has in recent weeks, it brings our response into sharper focus. He says Britain would pay for it by scaling back on development. Trump has long called on European allies to contribute more to Europe's defense. Consumer confidence tumbled this month in the biggest monthly decline in years over concerns about a slowing economy and rising inflation.

The Conference Board says its consumer Confidence Index dropped seven points. That's the biggest decline since August of 2021, as people worry about rising prices, trade, and tariffs. It's the second major gauge of consumer confidence showing consumers are feeling much more pessimistic about the economy. You're listening to NPR News. The Supreme Court today threw out the murder conviction and death penalty for Richard Glossop, an Oklahoma man who has been on death row for more than 25 years. The court found his

trial violated his constitutional rights because prosecutors didn't turn over evidence that might have helped his defense in the 1997 murder of a motel owner who was his former boss. Glossop has always maintained his innocence. In Los Angeles tonight, Luka Doncic of the L.A. Lakers is set to play against his former team the Dallas Mavericks for the first time since his shocking trade. Steve Futterman has more. It is a trade that is still reverberating across the NBA. Luka Doncic!

Luka Doncic, one of the league's best players and considered virtually untradable, was dealt by the Dallas Mavericks to the LA Lakers. The game tonight is sure to be full of emotion. Doncic is coming off his best game since the trade. While the Lakers are playing probably their best basketball of the entire season right now, the same cannot be said of the Mavericks. And the trade may have a lot to do with that. The player Dallas received in exchange for Donchich, Anthony Davis, has been sidelined with an adductor

strain and Davis will not play tonight. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. Home Depot broke a two-year slump in same store sales in the fourth quarter as consumer demand improved. This in a housing market though that's been hit with soaring mortgage rates and fewer homes up for sale. I'm Janene Hurst and you're listening to NPR News in Washington.