NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-27-2025 4AM EST

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

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On the Embedded Podcast. No, no. It's called denying a sweetened speech. It's misinformation. Like so many Americans, my dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. These are not conspiracy theories. These are reality. I spent the year following him down the rabbit hole, trying to get him back. Listen to Alternate Realities on the Embedded Podcast from NPR, all episodes available now.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. President Trump is directing federal agencies to prepare for more budget cuts and mass layoffs. Trump touched on the matter Wednesday during the first cabinet meeting of his second term. As NPR's House Macaulay reports, billionaire aide Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is directing the cutbacks, was also there. President Trump did most of the talking. He took a lot of questions from reporters.

But shortly after he delivered some brief opening remarks, he handed the floor to Elon Musk. And Musk is not a member of Trump's cabinet, so he did not have a seat around the formal table. But while we were in the room, he talked more than the vice president. He talked more than any other cabinet member. Asma Khalid reporting. A federal judge gave the Trump administration until midnight last night to restore funding for thousands of foreign aid projects. But the U.S. Supreme

Court intervened hours before the deadline, allowing the administration to continue its freeze of foreign aid payments. USAID, which administers foreign aid grants, is being dismantled. Environmental advocates are concerned over plans to cut EPA funding and perverts its finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and the environment.

From member station GBH, Craig Lemault has more. President Trump said he plans to cut 65 percent of EPA staff and the White House later clarified the plan is to cut 65 percent of the agency's funding. David Cash, who was the EPA regional administrator for New England under President Biden, says that cut would be devastating. What this shows is a blatant disregard for the importance of protecting the air and water and ecosystems that we all depend on. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is also recommending a reconsideration of the agency's 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions should be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Cash notes the Supreme Court has already ruled the EPA has that authority.

But he says he worries the high court has shown a tendency to reverse precedence. For NPR News, I'm Craig Lemault in Boston. Several new polls show that most Americans are not a fan of Elon Musk's federal cutbacks. NPR's Windsor Johnston has more. A new study by the Pew Research Center shows more than half of U.S. adults

say they have an unfavorable view of Elon Musk, including 36% who say they have a very unfavorable opinion of U.S. adults say they have an unfavorable view of Elon Musk, including 36 percent who say they have a very unfavorable opinion of him. In contrast, 42 percent expressed a favorable view. Other polls, including studies conducted by Quinnipiac University and Emerson College, have yielded similar findings. Musk and his aggressive, cost-cutting unit, DOJ, have taken drastic measures that have resulted in mass layoffs across the government. Some of the federal agencies hit hardest by the cutbacks include the Department of Education,

the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the IRS. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. U.S. futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in Washington hoping to convince the Trump administration to continue U.S. aid for Ukraine. Starmer's visit comes after announcing Britain's plans

to increase its defense spending. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled for a White House meeting on Friday amid talk of a framework for an economic deal. President Trump wants Ukraine to share its rare earth minerals as payment for U.S. military aid. Ukraine is seeking security guarantees as part of any final agreement.

The Vatican says Pope Francis' health has improved slightly and that a kidney problem appears to have subsided. NPR's Jason DeRose reports that the pontiff remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Pope Francis underwent a chest CT scan Tuesday night and the results show what the Vatican calls a normal progression. The press office says blood tests confirm kidney improvements. The 88-year-old pope entered the hospital on February 14th with bronchitis, which later developed into pneumonia. Francis continues on high-flow oxygen, but hasn't experienced any further asthma-like

symptoms since Saturday. He continues to undergo respiratory therapy. His doctors say that despite the slight improvements, his prognosis remains guarded. The Vatican press office says the pope received the Eucharist in the morning and continued to work throughout the day. Jason DeRose, NPR News. Again, U.S. futures are virtually unchanged and after hours trading on Asia Pacific market, shares are mixed down a fraction in Hong Kong. This is NPR News.