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Episode Date: May 25, 2025

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A lot has changed in higher education since President Trump took office. Everything that's been going on has kind of changed my life plans. Students have come to me and just, they feel really scared. On the Sunday story, how members of the class of 2025 are feeling about the state of higher ed and their own futures. Listen now to the Sunday story on the Up First podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. The fate of what President Trump calls his big, beautiful bill is now in the hands of

the Senate. House Republicans narrowly pass that massive tax and spending bill early Thursday morning along party lines. And now NPR's Deidre Walsh says senators are talking about some major changes. Deidre Walsh They're gonna be changes some major changes. They're going to be changes. And it's possible at the end of the day, the sort of one thing that brings the Republican Party together extending these tax cuts could be sort of the one thing that ends up sort of being the easier thing to get done, along with money for the border.

Medicaid cuts could be a problem for some Senate Republicans. And there are other conservatives in the Senate who just dismiss the House bill as really not serious on slashing spending. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that he wants to push the bill through by the Fourth of July holiday. Federal judge has struck down President Trump's executive order targeting the law firm of Jenner and blocked. This is the second time a court has permanently blocked one of Trump's orders against a major law firm. Here's MPR's Ryan Lucas.

In his 52-page ruling, U.S. District Judge John Bates says Trump's executive order violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutional. Bates says Trump picked Jenner because of the causes it champions, the clients it represents, and the lawyer it once employed. He also says that Trump's targeting of Jenner and other law firms, quote, seeks to chill legal representation the administration doesn't like, thereby insulating the executive branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers. This ruling follows a similar one earlier this month from another federal judge striking

down Trump's order targeting the law firm Perkins Cooey. Judges also have temporarily blocked Trump's orders against two other big law firms, but have yet to decide whether to block them permanently. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Now to California, where a section of the Pacific Coast highway that's been closed to the public since the January Palisades fire has reopened. NPR's Liz Baker reports that local businesses are hopeful for a much-needed holiday weekend boost. At the Malibu Country Mart, General Manager Stephen McNellis watches a parking lot start

to fill up with holiday weekend shoppers, more than he's seen since January. It was pretty devastating. It's just been kind of a ghost town. Now that PCH has reopened, he thinks there's a chance this weekend will help businesses get somewhat back to normal. But Frank Millerin, working in a fashion sneaker store, says he's not convinced. A lot of that traffic is going to be people just taking in the terrible devastation and it's going to be like a parking lot probably for a little bit.

Rebuilding business, like rebuilding from the fires, won't be done in a weekend. Even a long one. Liz Baker and Peer News, Malibu. Russia and Ukraine have completed the prisoner swap they agreed to during talks in Istanbul earlier this month. Over the past three days, the two sides have exchanged 1,000 prisoners each, most prisoners of war, but they also exchanged 120 civilians each. Today, both sides swapped 303 prisoners after Russia launched a second consecutive night a drone and missile attacks. This is NPR. In Texas, the Republican-led State House is expected to give a bill that would require

the 10 commandments be displayed in public school classrooms a final vote today. It's expected to pass and Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign it. A federal court found a similar Louisiana law unconstitutional, that law on hold, pending an appeals court review. The founder and CEO of the music label Putumayo World Music died this week of pancreatic cancer. Dan Storper was 74. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports that Storper released hundreds of albums featuring artists from Cuba, South Africa and many other places.

Putumayo Music started off as a Latin American handicraft shop in New York City in 1975 after Dan Staulper traveled to Colombia's Putumayo River Valley. In 1993, he started releasing compilations of music from around the world. This song by the Dominican Republic group Juan Luis Guerra is the opening track on Putumayo's inaugural Best of World Music Volume 1 World Vocal album. Putumayo releases many albums arranged by genre or country. In a 2011 NPR interview,

Stauper explained this is intended to take the listener on a musical journey. Hopefully it's guaranteed to make you feel good. Stauper said he was always on a quest to find great music. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. Rafael Nadal is to be honored today at the French Open Tennis Tournament. He is to be celebrated 20 years to the day on which he won his first French Open match in the tournament's main stadium. Nadal went on to win the French record 14 times. He played his final competitive match in November. This is NPR News. You're listening to the NPR Network. Live from NPR News.

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