NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-21-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

NPR News: 03-21-2025 12PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. In his bid to do away with the U.S. Department of Education, President Trump has just announced that the Small Business Administration will take over the department's federal student loans program effective immediately. I've decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler, a terrific person, will handle all of the student loan portfolio. We have a portfolio that's very large, lots of loans, tens of thousands of loans, pretty complicated deal. And that's coming out of the Department of Education immediately.

Danielle Pletka Congress would have to approve the abolishment of the Education Department. Trump is speaking to reporters from the Oval Office along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth had just wrapped up a meeting with Doge Architect and tech billionaire Elon Musk. Both met in Hegseth's office at the Pentagon. It's unclear if that was in response to news reports that Musk was to be granted access to top secret U.S. plans for possible war with China. Hexeth had said that the meeting would be informal about innovation and efficiencies.

European Union leaders agreed at a summit in Brussels to keep up the pressure on Russia to end its war on Ukraine. More from Terri Schulz. EU foreign policy chief Kaya Khalis failed to get enough support for her proposed 40 billion euro assistance package for Ukraine. So she's adapted that to trying to provide 2 million artillery shells worth 5 billion euros. Kala spoke at the EU's latest summit focused on defense investment. Let's decide on the short term which is the imminent needs that Ukraine has regarding the ammunition right now. Leaders debated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's readiness plan which includes EU loans to countries buying weapons from European manufacturers.

Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President It is of utmost importance that we develop the defense industrial base in the European Union. That's part of the bloc's urgent efforts to reduce security dependence on the U.S. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. TAYA GRAHAM, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, NPR NEWS ANCHOR The federal government says that Maryland authorities failed to conduct critical tests on the Francis Scott Key Bridge before it collapsed last year and was struck by a ship. Here's WYPR's Scott Massione.

The National Transportation Safety Board's top official says the Maryland Transportation Authority failed to follow standards in assessing vulnerabilities to the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The board ran its own calculations and says when a cargo ship hit it last March, the bridge's risk of collapse was far higher than what is acceptable. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homidy says the state missed an opportunity to avert disaster. The MDTA would have been able to proactively identify strategies to reduce the risk of a collapse and loss of lives associated with a vessel collision with the bridge. The NTSB says the Chesapeake Bay Bridge has never been evaluated and has identified 68

other U.S. bridges across the nation that need assessment. For NPR News, I'm Scott Macione. From Washington, this is NPR News. The busiest airport in Europe has closed for the day after a nearby power outage. Villa Marks reports this is likely to affect up to a thousand flights at London's Heathrow Airport. A fire at a substation west of London has caused a shutdown at Heathrow forcing the diversion of more than a hundred flights that were already in the air.

Australian carrier Qantas has diverted planes to Paris while United has diverted a flight from New York to Ireland. A spokesperson for Heathrow has warned of quote significant disruption in the days ahead and warned passengers to avoid traveling to the airport quote under any circumstances. Dozens of international airlines will be forced to reconfigure their schedules to avoid Heathrow which serves as a global hub for British Airways and several of its partners. For NPR News, I'm Villamarks in London. As mortgage rates in the US ease, more people sold their homes in February compared to the month before. The National Association of Realtors reports a more than 4% increase in existing

home sales from January. Compared to a year ago, sales fell by more than 1%. Meanwhile, the US government's latest look at the jobs market found a slight uptick in the number of people who filed for unemployment insurance last week. It hit 223,000. Overall, though, the number of layoffs are still at historically low levels. Experts are projecting, though, a different picture in upcoming jobs reports that reflect government-wide layoffs and impacts from tariffs. At last, check on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 257 points or more than half a percent at 41,694. This is NPR News.

Listen to this podcast sponsor free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.