NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-21-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. House Republicans rolled out a new version of what President Trump calls his big, beautiful bill. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports that the new plan follows an hours-long White House meeting with GOP holdouts. House Republican leaders issued the new version of the massive tax and spending package, at least in part to win over fiscal conservatives. The plan will now move up new work requirements for Medicaid to next year, phase out some energy tax credits, and add President Trump's name to new child savings accounts. Ahead of the changes, Trump met

with the Republican holdout and House Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House for several hours. This, as a rules committee, held a marathon hearing that lasted more than 20 hours to get the plan to the full House. Now they could vote on the package, a giant step in a very long process that is yet to go through the Senate. Claudia Rizales, NBR News, The Capitol. President Trump sparred with his South African counterpart during an Oval Office meeting today. Trump insisted on unsubstantiated claims that the South African government is persecuting

white landowners. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa pushed back, saying that most of the people being killed in his country are black. The Walt Disney Company has placed Florida-based employees living in the U.S. under temporary protective status, or TPS, on unpaid leave. The move comes after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to end TPS for 350,000 Venezuelans. NPR's Chloe Veltman has more.

Around 45 employees received emails from Disney saying they must provide valid new work authorizations or they will lose their jobs next month. A Disney spokesperson says the company has placed affected employees on leave with benefits for 30 days effective May 20th to ensure the company is not in violation of the law. New Yorker Melendez is the co-founder of the non-profit Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid. It is terrible.

We as Venezuelans feel really frustrated. Temporary protected status provides non-permanent legal status to individuals threatened by armed conflict and other catastrophes in their home countries. A California federal judge is scheduled to hear a case next week challenging the Trump administration's plans to end this protection for Venezuelans. Chloe Valtman, NPR News. The Justice Department is preparing to abandon a proposed oversight agreement with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville. Matt Sepick has more. After the 2020 police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the Biden DOJ found widespread racial

discrimination in the Louisville and Minneapolis police departments. But the Trump DOJ says the consent decrees wrongly equate statistical disparities with intentional discrimination. Leaders of both cities say they still plan to press ahead with reforms. Matt Sepic in Minneapolis. This is NPR. and Sempich in Minneapolis. This is NPR. Federal regulators are restricting the number of flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport. The temporary changes will limit arrivals to just 28 an hour, and no more than 28 planes

can take off from Newark each hour until mid-June. In the meantime, the FAA plans to make upgrades at the airport and the communications tower that manages Newark airspace. The move follows a series of staffing and communications issues in Newark. Authorities have now recaptured five of the ten escapees from a New Orleans jail. As Matt Bloom with Member Station WWNO reports, it comes as the city sheriff faces calls to resign. At least one state lawmaker has asked Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hudson to step down amid

the fallout from last week's jailbreak of 10 inmates. At a city council meeting this week, Hudson called the breach of security unacceptable, but she did not resign. As your sheriff, I take full accountability for this failure. And it is my responsibility to make sure it is addressed with urgency and transparency. After her comments, Hudson posted a statement on social media saying she had suspended her current re-election campaign to focus on security and accountability. For NPR News, I'm Matt Bloom in New Orleans.

A rare May nor Easter threatens to strike New England over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The storm is expected to dump up to two inches of rain on some areas and wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour. Nor'easters usually occur in late fall and winter. U.S. futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street following Wednesday's losses. This is NPR News.