NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-05-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, on Cora Coleman, President Trump is vowing to continue his efforts to downsize the federal government and reshape the U.S. economy and foreign policy. NPR's Tamara Keith reports on Trump's address to a joint session of Congress last night. Trump spent a significant share of the speech discussing immigration, highlighting brutal crimes committed by people in the U.S. without legal status. He talked about transgender athletes and his effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Because we're getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military and it's already

out and it's out of our society. We don't want it. Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It's gone. It's gone. Trump asked Congress to pass major tax cuts and said he'd even like to balance the federal budget, something he never did in his first term. Tamara Keith and PR News. Trump also used his speech to blame former President Joe Biden for problems in the U.S. economy. But Trump himself is introducing economic uncertainty by firing tens of thousands of

federal workers, and he's doubling down on U.S. tariffs on imported goods. David Wessel is director of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution. The future is always uncertain, of course, but this is different. President Trump, for instance, has announced that he wants to impose a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada. It's supposed to be in effect right now. But then yesterday, Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary, goes on TV and said, well, the president probably will announce something today that dilutes those tariffs based on

conversations with Canada and Mexico. So it's unsettling to say the least. He spoke to NPR's morning edition. Meanwhile, the Trump administration says it's going to put hundreds of federal properties up for sale. That includes the headquarters of the Labor Department, the Justice Department, and the American Red Cross. It's not clear what will happen to tens of thousands

of federal employees who have been ordered to return to their offices to work. NPR's Julia Simon reports the Trump administration is also seeking to terminate leases for properties, housing, vital weather services. One of the potential lease terminations includes a key weather forecasting center in Maryland, according to sources contacted by NPR. A current NOAA contractor who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concern for their job told NPR that the potential closure in Maryland is a quote,

terrible idea. They say the loss of the facility would quote, hamper our ability to do our jobs, predict the weather properly, help protect people and property. The agency is also terminating at least four expert advisory committees, including a Marine Fisheries Expert Committee. Julia Simon, NPR News. It's not clear if there are prospective buyers or new rental offers for the federal property that the Trump administration wants to get rid of. You're listening to NPR. Forecasters say a powerful storm is blasting through the central and eastern U.S.

There are blizzard conditions in the Midwest. There are tornado warnings in parts of South Carolina this morning. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority. And B.R.'s Nina Totenberg reports the justices said the EPA imposed vague limits on how much raw sewage that San Francisco may pump into the Pacific Ocean. The decision was the latest in a series of losses for environmentalists at the Supreme Court, but the court did not go as far as it could have in weakening the ability of

the EPA to police water pollution. The case has drawn particular attention because of its strange alliances with liberal San Francisco on the same side as petroleum and mining interests and the EPA on the other side. At issue was raw sewage and whether the EPA could penalize the city for sending it into the Pacific Ocean. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing in dissent for herself and the court's three liberals, accused the majority of an unnecessary statutory rewrite of the 1970 law and its standards. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington. The Vatican says Pope Francis has been taken off mechanical ventilation today.

He used it to help his breathing and sleep overnight. Francis remains hospitalized in stable condition in a Rome hospital. He's being treated for severe pneumonia. The news of the Pope comes as the Christian holy season of Lent starts. Today is Ash Wednesday. Christians will use the season to prepare for Easter. This is NPR.