NPR News Now - NPR News: 07-18-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

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On this week's Wild Card podcast, comedian Mark Maron reflects on being content-ish. I can honestly say there's never been a better time in my life. And I'm not even sure this one is that great. I'm Rachel Martin. Mark Maron's on Wild Card, the show where cards control the conversation. where cards control the conversation. Dave Maddingley Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Maddingley. Congress has given final approval to a rescission of $9 billion in federal funding previously allocated to foreign aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The bill cleared the House early this morning along party lines 216 to 213.

Republican Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana says lawmakers have an obligation to stop waste, fraud and abuse. Nine billion dollars I would say is a good start and hopefully we do more things like this. The take back of little more than a billion dollars from the CPB ends federal support of NPR, PBS and their member stations. The Trump administration says it will provide U.S. immigration and customs enforcement with the personal data of Medicaid recipients. As NPR's Jimena Bustillo reports, the information will be used to help immigration officers

track down people who are in the country without legal status. The disclosure of information about millions of people enrolled in Medicaid is the latest database that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using in its efforts to conduct mass deportations. Immigration advocates argue that the data sharing agreements could prevent people who do qualify for public benefits from enrolling. People without legal status are not allowed to enroll in Medicaid, but states are required to offer emergency Medicaid, which is temporary coverage for life-saving services, regardless of immigration status. The Trump administration has steadily increased the pressure

on federal immigration officers to arrest more people. The latest quota calls for 3,000 arrests per day. Ximena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. A new analysis projects the cost of health insurance will spike next year for people in the US who buy their own plans. Here's NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin. There's one big reason why insurance premiums

are going up next year. The federal money that had been making premiums lower expires in December. Those enhanced premium tax credits began during the pandemic. Cynthia Cox is with KFF, the nonpartisan health research organization that published the analysis of next year's rates.

Individuals on average are gonna pay 75% more than they did this year. People who are generally healthy might well decide that's not worth it. They'll go without health insurance and risk it. The people who can't do that tend to have chronic conditions or expensive medications which cost insurance companies more. Cox says that's why health insurance companies are raising rates. Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.

President Trump says he plans to sue the Wall Street Journal, News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch over an article published about Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. It stems from an article in the Journal on materials gathered in an investigation of the alleged sex trafficker. The Journal says they included a book of birthday cards, one of which had Trump's name on it. This is NPR News from Washington. The freight railroads Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are not commenting on numerous media reports that they're discussing a possible merger. The companies represent two of the industry's six largest freight railroads. Congress has passed the first major legislation to regulate cryptocurrency.

NPR's Rafael Nam says the bill has been the subject of widespread criticism. The Genius Act provides rules for a cryptocurrency called stablecoin. It's meant to be safer because companies have to back each stablecoin with real cash. So if a company sells you a stablecoin worth a dollar, it has to keep another dollar in reserve so that it can pay you back whenever you want to cash in your stablecoin. But the real excitement is in their use in global commerce. Companies can send or receive payments in stablecoins almost instantaneously, which

can then be easily converted into cash. But critics say the rules adopted by Congress are too weak and that stablecoin companies should follow the same rules as other financial firms like credit card companies. Rafael Nalm, NPR News. CBS says it plans to pull the plug on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May of next year. In a statement, network executives say the move is being made for financial reasons unrelated to the show's performance or content.

Colbert has hosted the show since 2015 when he took over from David Letterman. Colbert told his audience he was informed of the decision the previous night. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News in Washington. Most people have some album, some movie, some book from when they were young With Mattingly NPR News in Washington.