NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-02-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

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Does the idea of listening to political news freak you out? Well, don't sweat it. The NPR Politics Podcast makes politics a breeze. Every episode will break down the day's headlines into totally normal language and make sure that you walk away understanding what the day's news might mean for you. Take a deep breath and give politics another chance with the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. K $23 billion in non-defense discretionary spending. That's spending across a wide range of areas, science research, education, and transportation, for example.

An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson confirmed the numbers, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The proposed cuts would be a nearly 23% drop from current spending, according to the White House. The president's budget is merely a proposal. Congress passes spending bills. But this year, with Trump attempting to shrink government via executive order and his Department of Government

efficiency, and with congressional Republicans in his corner, Trump's budget may be more meaningful than usual. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. President Trump has signed an executive order to end federal funding for NPR and PBS. The order also prohibits local public radio and TV stations and any other recipients of funds from the Corporation for

Public Broadcasting from using taxpayer dollars to support these news organizations. NPR's David Falkenflick says that the way the CPB is funded is supposed to make sure it's protected from political interference. No government official can dictate what public broadcasters spend their money on once they've received it. So when President Trump says, you know, he puts out an edict in this executive order saying CPB must cease funding NPR and PBS and basically tell any public broadcasters on a local level that received their funds that they can't send money back to the big networks, that would seem to be in violation of congressional law.

NPR's David Falkenflick reporting, NPR has released a statement saying it'll challenge the president's executive order. NPR says it will vigorously defend its right to provide essential news, information, and life-saving services to the American public. One hundred days into Trump's second presidency, many conservatives in the swing state of Wisconsin who voted for him say they're on board with his rapid efforts on immigration and the economy. From member station WUWM in Milwaukee,

Mayann Silver has more. 48-year-old Rebecca Smith is a Trump voter from Milwaukee who says the border was like, quote, Swiss cheese under former president Joe Biden. She appreciates Trump's efforts there, even though she says she realizes detentions and deportations upend people's lives. You could say it seems really cruel, but at the same time, wasn't it really cruel when we had an open border and just let all these people

in? 87% of Republicans approve of how the president is handling immigration. According to the latest NPR, PBS News' Maris Pohl. That compares to a 44% approval rating for Trump on immigration among voters overall. For NPR News, I'm Ayaan Silver in Milwaukee. On Wall Street, the Dow is up more than 400 points. This is NPR. President Trump has closed a trade loophole that lets consumers buy cheap goods from China

without paying any steep tariffs. The targeted goods have to be worth $800 or less. Consumers often buy them from companies in China and Hong Kong, like from Temu or Xi'an. The Labor Department has released its jobs data for April. It says that U.S. employers added 177,000 new jobs last month. That's fewer new jobs than were created in March, but it's a larger number than economists had forecast. Louise Mangione wants the courts to throw out his state murder case in the killing of

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione has also been indicted by a federal grand jury. NPR's Kristin Wright reports, as lawyers say, this is double jeopardy. Mangione's attorneys argue to the Supreme Court of New York that concurrent federal and state prosecutions violate the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment. It protects people from being tried for the same crime twice. Federal prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty and New York state prosecutors are seeking life in prison. They say Mangione shot and killed Brian

Thompson outside of a hotel in New York City last December. He's pleaded not guilty in both cases and also faces charges in Pennsylvania where he was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona. Kristin Wright, NPR News. An old Soviet satellite may soon crash back to Earth. The former Soviet Union launched the probe more than 50 years ago. It was supposed to go to the planet Venus but it never got out of Earth's orbit. Now it's descending back toward the surface. Scientists are not sure where it's going to land. They think it could return around May 10th. You're listening to NPR.