NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-04-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

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This message comes from Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. They offer premium wireless plans for less and all plans include high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, and nationwide coverage. See for yourself at mintmobile.com slash switch. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. The head of the National Security Agency and US CyberS. Cyber Command, General Tim Hawk, reportedly has been fired by the Trump administration. U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who is the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, responding to multiple news outlets reporting the dismissal, is harshly

criticizing the move, saying Hawk served his country with distinction for more than 30 years, and he's being dismissed at a time when the country is facing unprecedented cyber attacks. NPR has not independently confirmed Hawke's firing. It's not clear why he has been forced out. The Pentagon's Acting Inspector General is launching an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss military operations. Last month, the Atlantic magazine reported its editor-in-chief had accidentally been added to a group chat.

Hegsith and other high-ranking security officials shared information about a US strike against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. NPR's Elena Moore has more. The Pentagon probe follows an inquiry request sent by the top Republican and Democratic senators on the Armed Services Committee. In a letter to the IG, Senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Jack Reed of Rhode Island say the incident raises questions about, quote, the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information. The Senate committee has also said it plans to hold a hearing on the matter. Hegseth has denied that classified war plans were discussed in the signal chat.

Elena Moore, NPR News, Washington. A federal judge said Thursday the Trump administration may have acted in bad faith when it took Venezuelan migrants out of the U.S. before a judge could block their deportation to El Salvador. NPR's Joe Rose has more on Thursday's court hearing in Washington before U.S. District Judge James Boesberg. Boesberg seems to be leaning toward holding a contempt hearing. He hinted pretty strongly that there is probable cause to believe that contempt occurred, but it is not so clear what form this next step will take.

Boasberg appears to be frustrated with briefings and declarations that do not answer his questions. He raised the possibility of holding hearings where administration officials will have to testify under oath, and he said he will issue an order with more details, but not before next week. South Korea must now hold a new national election to elect a new president. This after the country's constitutional court removed the impeached president,

Yoon Suk-yul, from office. The move comes four months after the president declared martial law and threw the country's political system into turmoil. He also sent troops to the parliament building in Seoul, this in an ill-fated attempt to break the country's legislative gridlock that was taking place in South Korea. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. World oil prices on Thursday dropped after eight key OPEC Plus producing nations agreed to raise their combined crude oil output by

more than 400,000 barrels per day. Analysts had expected a much smaller increase in production, about 140,000 barrels per day. The OPEC Plus members had been unwinding a much larger 2.2 million barrel per day production cut. As a result, U.S. oil futures fell by $4.76 to $67 a barrel. That's the lowest since July of 2022. Dr. Mehmet Oz, once the TV star of the Dr. Oz show, was narrowly confirmed to the Senate Thursday to run the Medicare and Medicaid division. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffins reports the vote was among party lines.

During Dr. Mehmet Oz's hearing last month, he was poised and bantered easily with senators of both parties. But that friendliness did not translate into votes from Democratic senators who objected to the fact that Oz wouldn't commit to opposing cuts to Medicaid. Steep Medicaid cuts are likely, as Republicans in Congress look for ways to offset President Trump's tax cuts. That's one challenge Oswald faces as he takes the helm at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. This week HHS began a dramatic overhaul as part of the Doge effort to downsize the federal

government. The health agencies are reeling from thousands of fired employees, shuttered labs, and offices across the country. Selena Simmons Duffin, NPR News, Washington. And from Washington, this is NPR. Support for A- Cell phones, cars, coffee. How do these goods make their way to us from overseas and what will President Trump's tariffs mean for their price tags?

Join the 1A podcast as we explore supply chains and costs associated with some of your favorite products. It's our series, How Did This Get Here, every Wednesday. Listen to the 1A Podcast from NPR and WAMU.