NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-27-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

NPR News: 02-27-2025 1AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Here on Shortwave, we believe that science is for everyone and that every question is worth asking, no matter your age. My name is Willie and my question is, is magic real? Our podcast is for the curious at heart. Come embrace your inner child when you listen now to ShoreWave from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development have eliminated nearly 5,800 foreign aid grants and awards, effectively gutting the six-decade-old agency.

More from NPR's Frank Langford. The government still owes USAID grantees more than $1 billion. A federal district judge ordered USAID to restart payments by Wednesday night. But the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which paused the order. Officials said USAID eliminated about 92 percent worth of the agency's grants, while the state department eliminated 28 percent worth. The government claimed a total savings of nearly $60 billion. Upon taking office, Trump ordered a pause in all USAID funding pending a comprehensive

review. He called the agency, quote, in many cases, antithetical to American values. Frank Lankford, NPR News. Federal agencies have until mid-April to submit proposals for relocating their offices to less expensive regions outside of Washington. They've also been ordered to submit inventory of reports to the General Services Administration, which oversees government real estate. Meanwhile, Department heads have until mid-March to submit plans for Mace layoffs of civil

service workers. U.S. Forest Chief announced his retirement, citing significant transformation of the government. Wyoming Public Radio's Caitlin Tan has more. Forest Chief Randy Moore had been publicly silent amid the mass firing of U.S. Forest Service workers. But in an email sent to employees Wednesday announcing his retirement, Moore wrote the decisions to downsize the Forest Service are happening above him. Dennis Lapsawich is with the Forest Service Council, a national union.

When you look at the conditions that are happening to federal agencies, I think Chief Moore is leaving the Forest Service with his head held high. Moore became the first Black forest chief after stepping into the role in 2021. A new chief has yet to be appointed. For NPR News, I'm Caitlin Tan in Laramie, Wyoming. The Agriculture Department plans to invest up to a billion dollars to fight the avian flu outbreak that's pushed prices to record highs. Moore from NPR Scott Horsley. Egg prices jumped more than 15 percent last month and panic buyers emptied store shelves after farmers were forced to cull millions of laying hens in an effort to slow the spread

of avian flu. The Agriculture Department says it will spend up to half a billion dollars boosting biosafety precautions at egg farms. Another 400 million dollars will go to speed the replacement of lost birds, although it can take six months to a year to raise a productive laying hen. The federal government is also exploring ways to temporarily boost the supply of imported eggs and possibly to vaccinate domestic chickens. Vaccination efforts are challenging, however. They can make it harder to export birds raised for meat. Scott Horsley reporting. This is NPR.

President Trump says Ukraine is prepared to sign an economic agreement that would include access to its rare earth minerals. Trump says Ukraine should share those minerals as payment for the U.S. military aid it's received in its war with Russia. Ukrainian President Zelensky is set to visit Washington on Friday and is calling the proposed deal a framework for a broader agreement and seeks security guarantees as part of any final deal. During his Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump repeated his assertion that Ukraine should

turn to Europe for protection. Another inmate has died in a New York prison since State Corrections officers began a strike last week. As Zach Jaworski reports, both inmate deaths occurred at the same facility in central New York. The New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision says the inmate died after he was found unresponsive at Auburn Correctional Facility early Monday morning. That's after another inmate was found dead at the same facility over the weekend. The Department of Corrections says both deaths will be investigated before causes are announced. The deaths come amid a strike among corrections officers across the state that began last Monday,

without union authorization and in defiance of state law. Public defenders say the strike has been limiting inmates access to medical care. The Department of Corrections has also started prisoner transfers to help with strike-related staff shortages, and the National Guard has been deployed to help run the prisons. For NPR News, I'm Zach Jaworski in New York. U.S. futures are flat in after-hours trading. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mixed up a fraction in Tokyo. This is NPR News. There's been a lot of attention on loneliness lately. up a fraction in Tokyo. This is NPR News.