NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-20-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump is expected to move ahead today with his plan to begin dismantling the Department of Education. Details from NPR's Janaki Mehta. President Trump plans to sign an executive action that will tell Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education. The move has been expected since early February

when the White House shared its intentions, but held off on issuing the action until McMahon was confirmed in her position. The Education Department has already notified nearly half of its staff that they will be laid off. Many of those employees will have their last day of work Friday before being placed on administrative leave. The order also says any programs will not be funded by the department if they, quote,

advance DEI or gender ideology. Janaki Mehta and PR News. J.D. ALTERGOTT, JR. The Pentagon is in the process of restoring some website pages that document the stories of pioneers who broke racial and other historical barriers in defense of these United States. Military veteran and baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the Navajo Kotakras from World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen, theirs and other Americans' histories were scrubbed as part

of the administration's policy to erase diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and references in federal government. Two defense officials not authorized to speak publicly told NPR the pages were taken down through a review of thousands of stories, photos and videos. One of the officials said the ongoing review was too hasty in some respects. President Trump argues DEI unfairly promotes racial and gender considerations at the expense of individual merit. However, Trump's critics say DEI initiatives are designed to promote fair representation of historically marginalized communities.

The Trump administration's hostage envoy has met with the Taliban in Afghanistan and is returning with an American man who had been held for the past two and a half years. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports that the Taliban are presenting this as a possible diplomatic opening. U.S. officials say that Delta Airlines mechanic George Glezman is returning home joining two other Americans who were released from Afghanistan on the night President Trump was inaugurated. This time U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boller and a former U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Taliban

in Kabul to negotiate the release of a man who they say was a tourist in Afghanistan. Officials say this was not a prisoner swap and they're calling on the Taliban to release seven other Americans, including Mahmoud Habibi. He's an Afghan-American who had been working in Kabul when the Taliban toppled the U.S.-backed government in 2022. Afghan-American who had been working in Kabul when the Taliban toppled the U.S.-backed government in 2022. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 186 points, or nearly half a percent.

It's NPR News. Lady Gaga tops the Billboard album chart this week and PR Steven Thompson with details. For months, Lady Gaga has been readying the world for Mayhem, her new album of brash, catchy pop music. She's released three singles in the past few months, including a chart-topping duet with Bruno Mars called Die With a Smile. This week, Mayhem finally enters the Billboard Albums Chart at number one. It's Lady Gaga's 11th top ten album and seventh to top the chart outright. She's also got two songs

in the top 20, Die With a Smile and Abracadabra. Stephen Thompson, NPR News. We've got new economic data out today. More people sold their homes in February than the month before. The National Association of Realtors is posting a 4.2% increase in existing home sales in the U.S. Compared to a year ago, sales fell by more than 1%. Meanwhile, the government's latest look at the jobs market finds a slight uptick in the number of people who filed for unemployment insurance last week. It hit 223,000 overall. Overall, though, the number of layoffs still at historically

low levels. Experts are projecting a different picture in upcoming jobs reports that reflect government-wide layoffs and the impact of tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 169 points at 42,133. The S&P is up 14 points. The Nasdaq is up 52. I'm Lakshmi Singh in PR News in Washington.