NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-10-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: April 10, 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 Shea Stevens. With the exception of China, President Trump has paused his global terrorist for 90 days, saying that dozens of nations have expressed an interest in negotiating trade deals. As NPR's Scott Horstie reports, the latest reprieve on terrorists came amid another day of wild swings on the stock market.

It's kind of a hangover-inducing cocktail of relief on the one hand and disbelief that hundreds of billions of dollars worth of import taxes can be added and then subtracted on the president's whim. In just the last week we've gone from very low tariffs on most countries to tariffs of up to 50% and now back down to 10%. You know it's hard if you're a business person or just someone shopping for groceries to know how to behave in this environment. NPR's Scott Horsley. U.S. futures are higher in after hours trading on Wall Street.

On Asia Pacific markets, shares are higher, up 9% in Tokyo. A South Florida Republican is preparing to introduce legislation to protect a new class of immigrants. Maria Alvarez Salazar says the plan addresses fears that pillars of immigrant communities could face deportation. More from NPR's Claudia Grisales. Congresswoman Salazar is a Republican who represents a swing district dominated by Cuban Americans now worried about President Trump's mass deportation plans. Her office has been inundated with calls, so she's revamping legislation she calls the Dignity Act to block deportations of those who are

contributors in their communities such as hospitality, construction, and farm workers. If you are the lady who's been cleaning toilets for 22 years and you do not have a criminal record and you have American kids and you have been paying taxes and you have been here helping the economy, we should give you dignity. In an effort to persuade GOP hardliners, the plan creates a path to legal status, not citizenship, for those with U.S. residency of five years or more. Claudia Rizales, NPR News. The U.S. Postal Service, a financial supporter of NPR, says a stamp price increase is needed

to stabilize the agency's finances. NPR's Hansi LeWong reports. USPS is proposing to raise the price of a first-class forever stamp to 78 cents. That's about a 7 percent increase sent to start July 13th if the Postal Regulatory Commission gives a green light. USPS says this and other proposed price hikes are part of its reorganization plan for addressing its long-standing financial problems. The Bolsa service generally receives no tax dollars to fund its operations. It relies instead on selling stamps and other service fees at a time when its most profitable kind of mail is on the decline with fewer people and businesses

using first-class mail to send letters, bills, payments, and advertising. To cut costs, USPS rolled out changes to delivery times this month that may slow down mail for some rural communities. More delivery time changes are set to start in July. Anzela Wong, in Pure News, Washington. This is NPR. A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the Trump administration's dismissal of probationary workers at 20 federal agencies. The two-to-one ruling, the appeals court panel said, the administration would likely succeed in showing that a lower court that ordered the workers reinstated lacked jurisdiction over the matter.

A decision on the merits of the claim by 19 states and the District of Columbia that the firings were illegal is expected within the coming weeks. Some mental health care workers in Los Angeles are on a five-day hunger strike seeking higher pay and benefits. As NPR's Katie Ariddle reports, the workers are also demanding to spend more time with patients. The workers are with Kaiser Permanente. They argue that mental health care is not as well paid or respected as other kinds of health care is not as well paid or respected as other kinds of health care. Cole Brockart says with the National Union of Health

Care Workers. I've been working in unions for eight years and this is the first strike that I've been on that is this many months, this long, and never before has one escalated to a hunger strike. Management from Kaiser Permanente say their health care workers are paid competitively, even if it's not the same as other medical workers. The hunger strike continues through Friday. Katie Riddle, NPR News, Los Angeles. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll has been tapped to become the new acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Driscoll replaces FBI Director Cash Patel, who had been the ATM's interim leader since February. If confirmed, Driscoll would become the first Pentagon official to oversee

a law enforcement agency. This is NPR News. Scott Detro You want to follow what's happening in Washington, D.C., but you don't want to be scrolling your phone all day. I'm Scott Detro, and NPR has a podcast that can help. It's called Trump's Terms, stories about big changes the 47th president is pursuing on his own terms. They're short, they're focused episodes

that tell you calmly, factually, what is happening and what isn't. Listen to Trump's Terms from NPR.