NPR News Now - NPR News: 07-18-2025 6AM 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. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. House Republicans have given final approval to rescind $9 billion of previously allocated funding, including $1.1 billion intended for NPR and PBS. And Pierce Scott Newman has more. The vote was 216 to 213, with all but two

Republicans voting to cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which acts as a conduit for federal money directed to public radio and TV. The funds were already allocated for 2026 and 2027. The rescission package also includes $7.9 billion in foreign aid. In a statement, NPR CEO Catherine Maher said the cuts were, quote, an irreversible loss to the public radio system. NPR receives only a few percent of its funding directly from the federal government, but its approximately 1,000 member stations receive more and use some of it in turn to pay the network to air its programs. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington.

Facing an uproar among some Republicans over the Jeffrey Epstein files, after the Department of Justice said there is no client list, President Trump told Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce some grand jury testimony. Such a request would require the approval of a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, where Epstein was charged before dying by suicide in 2019. House Speaker Mike Johnson is among those calling for the information to be made public. I think he's been very consistent. He wants to release all credible information and evidence and that's in furtherance of his goal and what he stated. Meanwhile, the House last night laid the groundwork for a possible vote, calling on the Justice Department to release material on its investigation into Epstein, but the measure is non-binding

and it hasn't been scheduled for a vote. Trump has shifted from his previous statement of calling the files a hoax, calling on Republicans who question his administration's handling of it, stupid and foolish. More rain is expected to drench parts of the southern U.S. into the weekend. Ampere's Matt Blum reports the remnants of a slow-moving tropical system have moved inland. The disturbance never gained enough strength to receive a name from the National Hurricane Center, but it's still dumped up to 10 inches of rain in several parts of Louisiana in recent days, causing flooding and some travel delays

cities like New Orleans shut down government offices due to the high flood risk a Flood watch remains in effect for almost the entire southern half of the state as remnants continue to move in from the gulf The National Weather Service says coastal cities in Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle could also see more flood risk. As the system moves north, it's expected to bring the threat of heavy downpours into southern Arkansas and northern Mississippi. Matt Bloom, NPR News. It was futures contracts are trading higher at this hour, all three major indices up one tenth of a percent.

This is NPR News. The House has passed three bills on cryptocurrency. One will regulate a type of crypto called stable coins. It's already passed the Senate and President Trump is expected to sign it today. A separate bill is broader legislation to create a new market structure for crypto through the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That's now in the hands of the Senate. This, as Trump has said, he wants to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world.

Late night TV host Stephen Colbert has made a surprising announcement that CBS is ending his show next spring. As NPR's Mondalee Delbarco reports, the network says it was a purely financial decision. The live audience at New York's Ed Sullivan Theater was not happy to hear Stephen Colbert deliver the news that this will be his show's final season. Yeah, I share your feelings. It's not just the end of our show, but it's the end of the late show on CBS.

I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away. Colbert has hosted the show since 2015, taking over for David Letterman. The news comes shortly after CBS paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by then-presidental candidate Donald Trump, who Colbert regularly skewers in his monologues. In a statement, the network said ending the show was a financial decision, and quote, not related in any way to the show's performance,

content, or other matters happening at Paramount. That's CBS's parent company. Mandelit Del Barco, NPR News. And I'm Janine Hurst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Most people have some album, some movies, some book from when they were young that helped shape how they came to see the world. That's no less true for the Code Switch crew.

It's still really touching. And I cried rereading it. So there. Listen as we revisit some of our old faves on Code Switch from NPR or wherever you get your podcast.