NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-23-2025 12PM EDT

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

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These days, there's a lot of news. It can be hard to keep up with what it means for you, your family, and your community. Consider This from NPR is a podcast that helps you make sense of the news. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a story and provide the context, backstory, and analysis you need to understand our rapidly changing world. Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. A federal judge in California is once again ruling against the Trump administration in its efforts to downsize the federal government. NPR's Andrea Hsu with the latest.

U.S. District Judge Susan Ilston had already temporarily paused Trump's radical transformation of the federal government. Now she has extended that, stating clearly that the president may not initiate large-scale reorganization of the executive branch without partnering with Congress. She rejected the Trump administration's argument that agencies are acting on their own in accordance with the law. She wrote that over the last 100 years, nine presidents have sought and obtained authority from Congress to reorganize the government.

Others, including Trump in his first term, asked for approval and did not receive it. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Congress has voted to roll back part of the Clean Air Act that controls toxic air pollutants. It's the first time lawmakers have loosened regulations in the law's long history. And Piers Alejandro Burunda reports. In the 1990s, Congress tasked the EPA with controlling emissions of toxic air pollutants, especially seven super dangerous ones like dioxins and mercury. John Wach is an environmental lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

He says the pollution comes from places like oil refineries, chemical plants, and lead smelters. We call it the worst of the worst list. During the first Trump administration, the EPA rolled back some of those regulations. Then the Biden era EPA put some of them back in place. Now Congress has reversed them again in a more durable way. Supporters say it will ease the regulatory burden on industry. Health experts worry it will increase cancer-causing air pollution. Alejandra Burunda, NPR News. The company behind the artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, is joining forces with one

of the best-known designers in Silicon Valley to make AI-enabled devices. More from NPR's John Ruich. OpenAI says it's buying a startup called I for about $6.5 billion. IO was launched last year by the designer Johnny Ive, who created the iPhone and other iconic products for Apple. The tie-up deal links the legendary designer with Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO and one of the driving forces behind the explosive growth of AI in recent years. The goal, they say, is to create AI-powered powered devices John Rewich NPR news The Treasury Department society when it comes to the penny

It's time to cash out Texas A&M professor Raymond Robertson explains Why phasing out production of the one cent coins a money saver the cost of producing the penny itself is just about four cents Which means that for every penny that the United States government prints, we're actually losing money. Treasury says the U.S. will save $56 million a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 273 points or more than half a percent. This is NPR News. President Trump's meme coin was a star of an exclusive dinner at his Virginia Golf Club last night. Hundreds of wealthy investors gathered for the gala. Critics raised ethics

concerns. Numerous events are being held in Minneapolis over the next few days to mark five years since the police killing of George Floyd. Matt Sepick with Minnesota Public Radio reports Floyd's murder sparked a call for racial justice across the U.S. and other countries. Matt Sepick Sunday marks five years since George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck and back for more than nine minutes. Floyd's killing, captured on video by a teenage witness, ignited a global racial justice movement. Events to honor Floyd and the movement include jazz, hip-hop, and gospel

concerts, a two-day street festival, and religious services. There's also an exhibition of murals painted on plywood that was used to protect storefronts during the civil unrest that followed Floyd's murder. The weekend concludes with a candlelight vigil at the intersection where he died for NPR news. I'm at Sepik in Minneapolis Buenos Aires may be considered a Mecca for families who have chosen for babies over human ones The Associated Press reports public opinion survey show the Argentinian city has one of the highest number of pet parents per capita in the world government data show Buenos Aires is home to more than 490,000 dogs, far surpassing the number of children in the city under 14.

U.S. stocks trading lower this hour, the Dow is down 338 points. It's NPR News. This is Fresh Air contributor Anne-Marie Baldonado. 38 points. It's NPR News.