NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-24-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

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This message comes from Wondery. Kiki Palmer is that girl, and she's diving into the brains of entertainment's best and brightest to have real conversations on her podcast, Baby, This is Kiki Palmer. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are stunned by a report that national security officials used a messaging app to text U.S. warplanes to a journalist. As NPR's Deidre Walsh explains, the report was published in The Atlantic. The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he was inadvertently added to a text chain on Signal, with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth,

and Mike Walz, the president's national security adviser, and other officials discussing plans for airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the incident needed to be investigated. We're just finding out about it, but obviously, yeah, we've got to run it to the ground and figure out what went on there. Top Democrats denounced the breach of classified information and called for congressional probes. But House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed the episode,

saying the administration was looking into it and would fix it. Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker told reporters he planned to hold a hearing. Deirdre Walsh and PR News, The Capital. In just three days, the Department of Education's workforce has been cut in half. And PRS Janaki Mehta reports.

At the end of the workday Friday, nearly half the workforce of the Department of Education began paid administrative leave. The layoffs hit every division of the department. Among the hardest hit was the National Center for Education Sciences, or NCES. In part, those experts were responsible for crunching the numbers that determine which school districts qualify for certain federal grants. Without them, it's unclear whether schools and low-income communities will receive key grants like Title 1, which sets aside billions of dollars for 90% of school districts across the nation. NCES employees

told NPR they were confident districts would get the money they expect for next school year, but the fate of federal grants for future years hangs in the balance. Janaki Mehta, NPR News. President Trump has a new pick to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after his initial choice was pulled from consideration. More from NPR's Ping Wong. Susan Menorah has served as the CDC's acting director since January. She's kept the agency running while also overseeing the implementation of executive

orders that led to public data sets being pulled from the agency's website and a round of firings targeting temporary and probationary employees. In a post on Truth Social announcing Minaraz as his choice to lead CDC on a permanent basis, Trump said she would work closely with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to address the chronic disease epidemic. Menars previously worked in leadership at the Federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. She'll now face a Senate confirmation hearing.

The White House withdrew the previous nominee, Dr. Dave Weldon, after some Republican lawmakers balked at his anti-vaccine views. Ping Huang, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. President Trump says he will impose 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Venezuela beginning April 2nd. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department has extended U.S.-based Chevron's oil lease with Venezuela until May 27th. Last month, the Trump administration revoked Chevron's

permit to pump and export oil from Venezuela. A co-director of the Oscar-winning film No Other Land reportedly has been attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and arrested by Israeli forces. Details from NPR's Medelit Del Barco. Weeks ago Hamdan Bilal was on stage at the Academy Awards holding an Oscar for the Palestinian-Israeli co-production No Other Land. The documentary chronicled ongoing bulldozing of Palestinian homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It was in one of those villages that Bilal was attacked with other Palestinians and Jewish

activists, according to the Center for Jewish Nonviolence. The group reports the assault was carried out by a group of Israeli settlers, some masked, some carrying batons, knives, and an assault rifle. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to NPR's request for information, but police told Channel 12 News in Israel that the clash began with Palestinians throwing stones at a Jewish minor. They report three Palestinians, including Bilal, were arrested, along with a Jewish

minor. Mandelit Del Barco, NPR News. Former Utah Congresswoman Mia Love has died of brain cancer. She was 49 years old. Love was the nation's first Republican black woman to be elected to Congress. She was elected to the US House in 2014 and served two terms. This is NPR News. Brian Reed Am I a propagandist? A truth teller? An influencer? There's probably no more contested profession in the world today than mine, journalism. I'm Brian

Reed, and on my show, Question Everything, we dive head first into the conflicts we're all facing over truth and who gets to tell it. Listen now to Question Everything, part of the NPR Podcast Network.