NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-01-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A federal judge in Texas ruled today President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport certain Venezuelan immigrants from South Texas is unlawful. MPR's Sergio Martinez-Baltron reports it's the first time a judge has ruled the act cannot be used against people who are alleged gang members. The Venezuelan men in this Texas case have been threatened with imminent removal under the Alien Enemies Act. They are accused of being members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that the president describes as invading the United States.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, wrote the administration does not have the authority to detain the men. That's because the gang's criminal activities, while harmful, do not constitute an invasion or predatory incursion as understood under the Alien Enemies Act. His decision covers all of the southern district of Texas, which includes Brownsville, McAllen, and Houston. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Austin. President Trump could release an initial partial version of his 2026 budget proposal as soon as tomorrow.

That's according to a White House official. NPR's Daniel Kurzleben says what many are expecting is a bare bone spending blueprint with more details to come at a later date. Details are still sketchy, but it could be what's known as a skinny budget. Now that's a sort of outline that presidents sometimes release before they release those big, thick, full budget books. Often a skinny budget gives us just the broadest strokes of how much money is going to go to each department or agency. X billion dollars for defense, X billion for housing and urban development and so on. Now these skinny budgets

from President Biden and also from Trump's first term, they've only included discretionary spending. So that leaves out the big ticket items like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, not to mention revenue projections. This year's budget comes as the administration is looking to come up with spending cuts to pay for a landmark tax cut. The president is in Alabama today. He'll speak in advance of the University of Alabama's spring commencement. As Noel Annonin with member station WBHM reports, some students are planning to protest the president's visit.

UA student Democrats president, Braden Vick, says, he's concerned President Trump's visit has become too much of a distraction. The president has taken the focus off of the graduates. The commencement ceremony is for us, it's not for the president, he's not graduating. UA college Republicans released a statement saying they are proud to welcome Trump and disappointed in the quote, inflammatory response from their liberal counterparts who they say

do not represent their student body. Some students are planning to protest the Trump administration's recent targeting of non-citizens in higher education led to an Alabama PhD student being detained by immigration and customs enforcement earlier this year. For NPR News, I'm Noelle Annenen in Birmingham. Stocks closed mostly higher on Wall Street today, driven by better than expected earnings from Microsoft and Metta.

The Dow rose 83 points. The Nasdaq was up 264. This is NPR. Device maker Apple waited until after the market had closed to release its latest earnings. The company says both profit and revenues rose for the most recent quarter, as despite concerns about the Trump administration's tariffs and the company's exposure to China. Apple says it earned $24.78 billion in the quarter, up 4.8% from the same period a year ago. Revenues rose more than 5 percent to 95.36 billion.

Apple says a majority of its devices shipped from the U.S. in coming months will be originating from India and Vietnam in an effort to avoid tariffs against China. Nominations are in for the 2025 Tony Awards, Broadway's highest honors. From New York, Jeff London highlights the nominees. George Clooney got his first Tony nomination for Good Night and Good Luck as Best Actor in a play he co-authored, which has been breaking box office records. Sadie Sink picked up a Best Actress nomination for her role in John Proctor as the villain. In the musical category, Audra McDonald got her record-breaking 11th Tony nomination for Best Actress in Gypsy.

Also in the Best Actress category, Nicole Scherzinger, formerly of the Pussycat Dolls, got a nod for Sunset Boulevard and newcomer Jasmine Amy Rogers picked up a nomination for Boop. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Critical futures prices moved higher after some recent downturns. Oil rose more than a dollar a barrel to $59.24 a barrel. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.