NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-25-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: May 25, 2025

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This is Fresh Air contributor Anne-Marie Baldonado. I talked with actor Cole Escola about their hit Broadway play, Oh Mary. Cole plays an unhinged alcoholic Mary Todd Lincoln, who's an aspiring cabaret performer. If that makes no sense, that's part of the point. You can find my interview on the Fresh Air podcast. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. President Trump's slashing of the federal workforce is on pause at more than 20 agencies. A federal judge has ruled that Trump must have the cooperation of Congress before undertaking

a sweeping overhaul of government. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports. Andrea Hsu U.S. District Judge Susan Ilston has ordered the Trump administration to stop issuing new reorganization plans and new layoff notices for now. She wrote that with the kinds of dramatic staff reductions that were afoot, agencies would not be able to do what Congress had directed them to do. She said while the president may set policy priorities for the executive branch, he cannot initiate any large-scale reorganization without partnering with Congress. And agencies may not make changes that intentionally or negligently flout the tasks Congress has

assigned them. The Trump administration has appealed her decision and has also asked the Supreme Court to intervene. Andrea Hsu, NPR News. Courts in the South are weighing whether prisons should do more to protect inmates from summer heat. The Gulf States newsroom's Kat Stromquist reports on a case in Louisiana. The decision is part of a lawsuit filed by people working the farm line at the Angola prison who claim they've been forced to work in dangerous outdoor heat. Last summer, Judge Brian Jackson ordered the prison to give the incarcerated people more access to sunscreen and shade.

Now Jackson says the prison must check the heat index every half hour and issue warnings when temperatures hit 88 degrees. That's after the state DOC raised its heat alert marker to 91 degrees last year. The prison system is appealing the decision to a higher court. The judge is still considering asks for more worker protections and if he should certify the case as a class action. For NPR News, I'm Kat Stromquist in New Orleans. K. The limited quantity of food Israel allows into Gaza has sparked looting and chaotic

crowds at bakeries. The UN's World Food Program, WFP, says all Gaza bakeries have closed because of security concerns. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports. Under international pressure, Israel is allowing some food into Gaza after a nearly three-month ban. WFP says it helped reopen four bakeries in Gaza, but they quickly closed because of quote, severe security threats. And it says hungry crowds, overwhelmed bakeries and looters stole supplies from trucks. It says it can't work safely while Israel limits where people can get food. Israel says it will concentrate food delivery

to southern Gaza to compel Palestinians to move there and to block aid to Hamas. In North Gaza, resident Juma El-Dardouna says he'll refuse to move. That's expulsion and suffocation of Gaza's people, he says. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv, with NPR's Anas Baba in Gaza City. This is NPR News. Ukrainian officials say Russian missile and drone strikes overnight killed at least 12 people in the largest single Russian aerial attack since the war began. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine wrapped up a three-day prisoner exchange today. In all, each country released 1,000 people. The largest art museum in the country now owns an animal collection of guitars.

NPR's Neda Ulibi reports a philanthropist has donated hundreds of historically significant instruments to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The guitars reflect nearly a century of American music history. More than 500 now belong to the Met, ranging from a Gibson played by Mississippi John Hurt, to a guitar owned by Roy Rogers, to the Les Paul Keith Richards used during the Rolling Stones' 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. For all its many cultural riches, the Met has not been known for 20th century instruments. That changed after a 2019 exhibition co-curated with the Rock and

Roll Hall of Fame. That convinced billionaire Dirk Ziff, whose father started a magazine Empire, to donate much of his massive guitar collection. Neda Ulibi, NPR News. Events are being held throughout Minneapolis today to remember George Floyd who was murdered by police five years ago. A focal point is George Floyd Square, the intersection where the officer pinned the 46-year-old black man to the pavement with his knee for more than nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked nationwide protests for an end to police brutality and racial

injustice. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.