NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-25-2025 1PM EST

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. The Department of Veterans Affairs has cut an additional 1,400 jobs as part of the Trump administration's cost-cutting. MPR's Quill Lawrence reports veterans groups have condemned the cuts. Job cuts at the VA now total around 2,500, which the Veterans of Foreign War as VFW called indiscriminate firings. Nearly a third of VA staffers are veterans themselves, and several of those let go say they received excellent reviews before sudden termination for poor performance.

Veterans fired from the VA suicide crisis hotline told NPR they were let go and suddenly rehired days later. Senators on the Veterans Affairs Committee from both parties say they have asked, but not received, explanations from VA about the cuts. In a statement, VA said none of the jobs cut are mission critical and that VA continues to hire for more than 300,000 critical posts that are exempt from the federal hiring freeze. Quill Lawrence, NPR News. O Speaker, Mike Johnson is working to gather enough votes to pass a budget resolution,

the first step in moving ahead with President Trump's big fiscal agenda. Johnson says he plans to hold a vote tonight, but it's not clear if he has the votes yet. It is facing pushback from Republicans worried about cuts to social programs and fiscal hawks who say the $2 trillion in spending cuts that go with it don't go far enough. And Johnson is facing a ticking clock because a continuing resolution that funds the federal government runs out on March 14th. If a new one isn't passed, a partial government shutdown will take place. And also, big parts of Trump's 2017 tax cuts expire at the end of the year, and that means

most taxpayers will see a rate hike if Congress doesn't act. Smoke from the wildfires in Los Angeles County last month was loaded with lead for several days. That's according to new data published in the Center for Disease Control's weekly update. And Piers Alejandro Burunda has more. For about two and a half days at the beginning of the fires, the smoke blanketing Los Angeles was even more health damaging than normal wildfire smoke, because it contained much higher levels of lead than normal.

So we're talking about an increase of about 110 times, and that is compared to just a few days before the fire. That's Harula Balaka. She's a researcher at Caltech and an author of the new analysis. She and colleagues were monitoring the smoke in real time from a sensor site about 14 miles from the Eden fire. She says the lead probably came from paint or pipes in older houses that burned. Long-term lead exposure is associated with health problems like brain and reproductive issues. The spike subsided after a few days. Alejandra Burruna, NPR News. LORI GARDNER Weaker than expected consumer confidence

numbers last month. The Consumer Confidence Board says its January index was lower, its biggest monthly decline since August of 2021, over economic concerns, Wall Street's trading in mixed territory. You're listening to NPR News. Pope Francis remains in critical condition after nearly two weeks in the hospital with respiratory issues. His condition has shown slight improvement and as NPR's Fatima Al-Khassab reports, the Vatican says the Pope has resumed some work. The Vatican said Pope Francis had rested well the whole night and was now well enough to

resume some work after several days of more serious illness. His office said the pontiff had even held a meeting with the Vatican Secretary of State and another official to issue approvals that would move several individuals along the path to potential sainthood. The 88-year-old has been in hospital for more than 10 days, battling double pneumonia and several other ailments. Those recently included mild kidney failure, which doctors now say is, quote, under control. According to the Vatican, the pontiff has been responding to his treatment, which includes oxygen through a nasal tube. Fatima Al-Khassab, NPR News, Rome.

The federal judge has rejected the Associated Press' lawsuit to lift President Trump's ban on the AP covering major events. The AP says its first and fifth amendment rights were violated. Trump banned the new service after it refused to go along with his order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, found there was no need for an emergency decree and instead ordered an expedited consideration of the AP's lawsuit. But he also raised tough questions about the government's case, saying prior rulings weren't favorable to administrations seeking to shut out journalists.

I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News in Washington.