NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-06-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

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On the Thru Line podcast, the myth linking autism and vaccines was decades in the making and was a major moment for vaccine hesitancy in America, tapping into fears involving the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government. No matter how many studies you do showing that this is not a problem, it's very hard to unring the bell. Listen to Thru Line from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kora Kolman. President Trump is expected to issue another executive action as early as today.

It could call on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to, quote, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education. NPR's Kori Turner reports. A draft of the executive action obtained by NPR calls on Secretary McMahon to act to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law to begin unwinding the Education Department. NPR reported the action's existence a month ago, but it was held until after McMahon's Senate confirmation. On Monday, after that vote, McMahon said in a message to department staff that helping her close the department was, quote, an opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public

service. The department's primary role in K-12 education is enforcing civil rights laws and sending money to help schools educate low-income students and children with disabilities. Corey Turner, NPR News. An independent federal board has ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate nearly 6,000 probationary workers who had been fired. The board said it found reason to believe that the firings were unlawful. Separately, a federal appeals court has ruled on a related matter.

The court sided with the Trump administration and will allow the White House to fire the head of a federal watchdog agency. NPS Emily Fang reports the official had challenged the firing of federal workers on probation. Hampton Dellinger had been the head of the Office of Special Counsel, but President Trump fired him last month, a move Dellinger sued over. Dellinger was reinstated by a district court, but an appeals court has overturned that decision, a move that Dellinger's lawyers argue weakened a federal office designed to protect whistleblowers. It's unclear what Dellinger's removal means for some probationary workers who were fired in Trump's cuts to the federal government.

Dellinger had argued those terminations of nearly 6,000 workers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture were unlawful, and an independent review board sided with him. Emily Fang and Pure News Washington. European leaders are opening an emergency meeting today in Brussels. They're looking at boosting their own defense spending. That's because the Trump administration is saying that Europe needs to take care of its own security. This also comes as President Trump has suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine and cut off U.S. intelligence sharing with that country. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says any lasting peace deal for Ukraine must involve

all parties and may include peacekeepers. The whole point of ensuring that there's a lasting peace and that any deal, if there's a deal, is defended is to avoid conflict, to ensure that we do have peace. The way to ensure we have peace is to ensure there are guarantees for any deal that is in place. French President Macron is warning Europe is entering a new era. This is NPR. NPR has learned that the Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to slash its workforce by about 80,000 jobs. An internal VA memo is setting the staffing-level goal to what it was in 2019. The effort is led by the cost-cutting entity DOJ.

That agency grew, the VA, after Congress passed a law expanding health care and benefits to millions of veterans sickened by toxic exposures. Many VA staffers were then hired to assist veterans. A space mission that is supposed to map out the location of water deposits on the moon appears to have failed. The craft called Lun Lunar Trailblazer, had a successful start on its trip to the moon last week. The NPR's Joe Palka reports problems arose soon after launch. According to a statement from NASA, the problems are related to power. Mission managers believe the spacecraft is spinning so

its solar panels are unable to generate sufficient power for normal operations. Although it's still possible the probe can be commanded to control the spin and restore something close to normal power levels, the time for critical trajectory correction maneuvers has already passed. The probe can no longer reach the lunar orbit its instruments were designed for. Lunar Trailblazer is one of a new class of lower-cost but higher-risk planetary probes. Its $94 million budget is less than a tenth that of some of NASA's flagship missions. Joe Palka, NPR News. A tropical cyclone is starting to lash the east coast of Australia.

The effects of tropical cyclone Alfred are expected to last into the weekend. This is NPR.