NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-20-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

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Hey, I'm Scott Schaefer. And I'm Marisa Lagos. We host Political Breakdown. With the 2024 election over and President Trump in the White House, there's going to be a lot to keep up with this year. Political Breakdown has got you covered. We'll bring smart analysis, a wide range of voices, and even some laughs. Join us for Political Breakdown every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from KQED, part of the

NPR Network. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. President Donald Trump has formally begun the process of closing the Department of Education. More from NPR's Alyson Admoreny. In a ceremony at the White House, President Trump signed the executive order aimed at shuttering the department.

He was flanked by students sitting at desks with state flags. The president pointed to poor national testing as a motivator for reducing the scale and the size of the department, but said the department's quote useful functions would be quote preserved in full. The department administers federal funding for K-12 schools, Pell grants, and student loans and has the ability to investigate schools. At the ceremony, Trump was joined by Republican governors from Texas, Indiana, Florida, and

Ohio. The move to shutter the department has been expected since early February and comes a week after the department notified nearly half of its staff that they will be laid off. Elissa Nadwani, NPR News. President Trump's firing this week of two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission has sparked an outcry from those who say it's an abuse of power. As NPR's Andrea Shue reports, the matter is likely headed to the Supreme Court. The White House says that Trump has the authority to fire whomever he wants from independent

agencies such as the FTC or the National Labor Relations Board or the Merit Systems Protection Board. A 1935 Supreme Court ruling holds that presidents can only fire members of such agencies for cause. Jared Davidson from the legal advocacy group Protect Democracy says it's important that independent agencies remain above politics. They're supposed to be working for the American people and not supposed to be working in service of any one president. But the Trump administration has argued that limiting the president's authority over them

is unconstitutional and says it's prepared to make its case at the Supreme Court. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Four states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its efforts to terminate $20 billion in funding that Congress earmarked for climate and clean energy projects. And Bear's Michael Copley reports the states accused the EPA of violating the constitution's separation of powers. Lawyers for California, Maine, Illinois, and Minnesota

asked a federal judge to stop the EPA from abolishing grants that Congress approved under the Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 law signed by former President Biden. Some of the money was to be used by so-called state green banks to help pay for clean energy projects. The Democrat led state say the EPA broke the law when it froze the funding. The EPA declined to comment in a separate lawsuit.

A federal judge earlier this week temporarily blocked the EPA from terminating about 14 billion dollars in grant funding under the Inflation Reduction Act, saying the agency didn't appear to follow rules for canceling the agreements. Michael Copley, NPR News. Stock says modestly lower on Wall Street today. The Dow was down 11 points. The NASDAQ fell 59 points.

You're listening to NPR. Senior military officers from across Europe and elsewhere met outside London today as they look to work out plans for an international peacekeeping force for Ukraine. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says a coalition led by Britain and France is moving into an operational phase. Still not clear as to how many countries are willing to send troops or whether there will be a permanent ceasefire.

Zimbabwean Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry has been elected to head the International Olympic Committee. Kate Bartlett reports the two-time gold medalist is marking a whole new set of firsts. It's the trifecta of superlatives for an IOC president. First woman, youngest person, first African. She decisively beat six male candidates for the position in the vote for the body's new president. Glass ceilings have been shattered today, she said in a speech afterwards. As a nine-year-old girl, I never thought that I would be standing up here one day, getting

to give back to this incredible movement of ours. Forty-one-year-old Coventry was born and raised in post-independent Zimbabwe. She went on to win seven Olympic medals in swimming, including gold in the 200-meter backstroke in 2004 and 2008. For NPR News, I'm Kate Butler in Johannesburg. Sales of previously owned homes took a bigger than expected bump up last month, following a slight easing in mortgage interest rates. The National Association of Realtors says sales of existing homes were up 4.2% from the previous month. The national median home price continued to rise though up 3.8% from a year ago to $398,400. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from NYU Langone.

The NYU Langone Health app gives you access to your electronic health record. NPR News in Washington.