NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-16-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

NPR News: 05-16-2025 4AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Fall in love with new music every Friday at All Songs Considered. That's NPR's music recommendation podcast. Fridays are where we spend our whole show sharing all the greatest new releases of the week. Make the hunt for new music a part of your life again. Tap into New Music Friday from All Songs Considered, available wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington I'm Shae Stevens House Republicans are proceeding with plans to advance a massive tax bill today the measure contains much of President Trump's agenda but NPR's Elena Moore reports that top lawmakers have yet to agree on a final version the House Budget

Committee is holding a hearing on the legislation in hopes of meeting House Speaker Mike Johnson's goal for a full House vote by Memorial Day. But Johnson is balancing competing demands. A handful of members representing districts with high local property taxes say their support is tied to an increase in the state and local tax deduction or SALT. But conservative hardliners warn that any changes must be balanced with more cuts. All this as fights also continue over proposed cuts to Medicaid. Getting these groups to agree will be crucial if the GOP wants to advance this bill. Alana Moore, NPR News. The US Supreme Court is considering arguments over rulings on President Trump's restrictions on citizenship for some U.S.-born children of immigrants.

An issue is whether lower courts can restrict Trump's effort to reinterpret the 14th Amendment. Law professor and author Amanda Frost says the justices are concerned about a single judge issuing nationwide injunctions. The nationwide injunction question is vital not just to the birthright citizenship litigation but to a large number of this president and previous presidents executive branch policies. There's now 40 nationwide injunctions in place against President Trump's executive branch policies and of course he's issued 150 executive orders. Frost says the justices realized the potential for chaos if the case is decided years from now and then remains in effect only for a short time. She says the outcome will determine if parents

of roughly 3.6 million children born in the U.S. each year will be forced to prove citizenship. Shares in UnitedHealthcare Group have tumbled since the Health Care and Insurance Conglomerate dismissed reports of a government investigation. As NPR's Maria Aspin reports, the company's shares closed down 13 percent on Thursday alone. Maria Aspin, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR

News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, NPR News, But it's having a terrible year, which kept getting worse this week. On Tuesday, UnitedHealth abruptly replaced its CEO and suspended its financial guidance for this year. Now, it's facing reports of a potentially criminal investigation by the Department of

Justice into its Medicare business. The company says it has not been notified by the DOJ of such an investigation and that it stands by the integrity of its business. But investors are spooked. Shares in UnitedHealth have fallen more than 50 percent in the past month, shaving hundreds of billions of dollars off its market cap. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. This is NPR. Military commanders have been ordered to identify troops in their units who may be transgender or have gender dysphoria.

The commanders are supposed to send those troops to a doctor for medical checks to force them out of service. Transgender troops are banned from military service under an executive order signed by President Trump. Good Night and Good Luck, the Broadway hit that stars and is co-authored by George Clooney, will be given a live broadcast on CNN next month, the night before the Tony Awards. It is the first time a Broadway play has been telecast live, as Jeff London reports from New York.

George Clooney's vehicle about journalist Edward R. Murrow taking on Senator Joseph McCarthy has been a Broadway juggernaut. It's recouped its $9.5 million investment and has been breaking box office records for a play every week. There are a certain kind of people wired a certain kind of way. Who know there's a story behind the story if you're bold enough to search for it? Now subscribers to Basic Cable will be able to see it without paying premium ticket prices on June 7th, the night before the show closes. After the broadcast, CNN will host a special

looking at the state of global journalism in context of the production. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. US futures are virtually unchanged in after hours trading on Wall Street following Thursday's mixed close on Asia Pacific markets, shares are mostly lower. This is NPR News. When the Star Wars prequels came out, they were polarizing. Many fans of the original trilogy hated the phantom menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Though many younger fans loved them then and love them still.

So we're rewatching them with fresh eyes 20 years later. From Jar Jar Binks to the climactic nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo