NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-06-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, Onkorva Coleman, U.S. Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, has once again been removed from his position at the Federal Watchdog Agency. As NPR's Andrea Hsu reports, his removal comes as he was leading an investigation into the firings of federal probationary employees. Special Counsel Dellinger's request for a stay in the terminations of nearly 6,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture had just been granted when an appeals court in Washington, D.C. sided with the Trump administration and removed him from office for the second time. The move doesn't affect the order to reinstate fired USDA workers for 45 days, but it could affect what else the Office of Special Counsel does going forward. Already, attorneys have submitted evidence to show probationary employees were improperly fired across the government. Dellinger called on all agencies to voluntarily reinstate probationary

employees they'd fired since mid-February and not wait for an order. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Britain's defense secretary is in Washington. He's expected to try to convince the Trump administration to reinstate aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. NPR's Lauren Fraher reports from London. The Trump administration's pause on aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine affects some of the weapons Britain has given that country, including long-range storm shadow missiles, which Ukraine is now unable to use as effectively without US intelligence that helps with targeting. The Trump administration wants Europe to pay for more of its own security, including Ukraine. Britain was among the first to step up, boosting

its own defence spending. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also offered to send British peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of a possible ceasefire, But he wants a U.S. backstop for their safety. UK Defense Secretary John Healey is discussing all of this in Washington with his U.S. counterpart Pete Hegseth. Lauren Freyer and PR News London. President Trump has given the big three U.S. automakers a one-month reprieve on his 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada. The high tariffs will stay in place for most other goods. The automakers had asked that the Trump tariffs not apply to parts or cars that met the requirements

of a trade agreement among the three countries. The trade agreement replaced the old NAFTA accord. And Piers Kamila Domenoski says tariffs on the auto industry could be costly to consumers. These particular tariffs on Canada and Mexico, if they stayed in place a while, we would be looking at new cars going up in price almost certainly by thousands of dollars. Car parts get more expensive, used cars repairs insurance get more expensive through ripple effects. The UAW, the auto workers union, did put out a statement this week acknowledging the pain caused by tariffs, but also saying the working class felt the pain of NAFTA and tariffs are

a way to bring jobs to the U.S. by making it more expensive to manufacture overseas. NPR's Camilla Dominovski reporting. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Vatican says Pope Francis had a quiet night and remains in stable and guarded condition. He continues to rest in the Rome hospital where he's being treated for pneumonia. Officials say he's now taking oxygen therapy and doing some work. Pope Francis has been hospitalized now for three weeks. He was first admitted for bronchitis, but his condition worsened.

There's no indication when he might be discharged. Blockbuster obesity drug, Wigovie, will now be available to customers online for $499 a month. But NPR's Sydney Lupkin reports in order to get the discount, patients cannot use their health insurance. Novo Nordisk is joining its competitor Eli Lilly and offering its obesity drug direct to consumers at a discount. Lilly started offering vials of its weight loss drug, ZepBound, online last summer.

The direct to consumer model is fairly new to the pharmaceutical industry. But it wouldn't work for every medicine, says Dr. Ben Roem, a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Remember, Americans are already paying thousands of dollars per year on healthcare. So to say like, well, there is this medicine available,

but you have to pay for it out of pocket, it really serves a very small percentage of the population. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two in five American adults is obese. Sydney Lepkin, NPR News. Lawmakers in Utah have passed a bill requiring app stores to verify their users' ages. The bill also requires that Utah children get their parents' consent before they can

download apps to their devices. The bill now goes to Utah Governor Spencer Cox for his signature. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.