NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-20-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. National Guard troops and federal law enforcement continued to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C. with additional reinforcements on the way. NPR's Rachel Treisman reports it's not clear how long they can stay. The Home Rule Act only allows the president to control D.C. police for 30 days without authorization from Congress. Trump said last week he would ask for an extension. The president can use D.C.'s National Guard as long as he wants. The White House did not respond to questions about a potential timeline for withdrawing guard troops. Legal experts say they could potentially be removed through court rulings or congressional action. There are also practical considerations. Republican governors in the South could recall their state guards to help with hurricane relief. Rachel Treesman NPR News. The vote is expected to come as soon as tonight on a new congressional map in Texas. Republicans in the State House made changes at the request of President Trump as a way to potentially flip up to five U.S. House seats in next year's midterm elections.

Certain tax credits for people who buy their own health insurance will expire at the end of this year. These were enacted during the pandemic. NPR Selena Simmons-Duffin reports on one enrollee who's bracing for a significant price hike. It's going to be a real hip. Ellen Allen lives near Charleston, West Virginia, and buys coverage on health care.gov. My monthly premium is $479 in some change. Next year, when there will be fewer federal tax credits, it's going to be like $2,800 a month.

Just for her. She says it's still worth it to have the plan. She has expensive prescriptions, like eyedrops. She needs to keep her vision. Luckily, she'll be turning 65 next year and will, will be able to enroll in Medicare. Resets for only nine months or eight months, and I'm glad I can do it. There will be a lot more West Virginians who can't.

Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News, Washington. Tropical storm warnings have been issued for areas of North Carolina as Hurricane Aaron moves closer to the coast. Some parts of the Outer Banks are under evacuation orders. Resident Tom Newsom says he has no plans to leave his home. There is a big storm out there, but due to the, proximity of the storm and how close it's going to be at the shore here, I feel pretty confident that we're going to be all right. The highway probably will wash out it, but aside from that,

I believe for the most part, really is to be all right. The storm is not expected to make landfall, but is fueling dangerous rip currents and massive waves along the east coast. Many beaches have banned swimming as Aaron gets closer. At the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up 16 points. This is NPR News. A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a new law that requires the Ten commandments to be posted in every public school classroom. The judge ruled that the law likely violates both the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment. The bill was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June and was supposed to go into effect on September 1st. Bankers, policymakers, and economists will gather in Jackson Hole, Wyoming tomorrow.

It's for the annual Federal Reserve Symposium on changing labor markets. Some attendees are worried that climate change didn't make the agenda. Hanna Merzbach from the Mountain West News Bureau reports. Former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Sarah Bloom Raskin, says severe temperatures are already hurting labor markets. Extreme heat alone is costing the U.S. economy approximately $100 billion per year in labor productivity impacts. Bloom Raskin is joining scholars, activists, and Illinois Congressman Sean Kasten

in sounding the alarm about climate change's economic impacts. This isn't the first time critics have cited, though, mission of climate change at a high-profile Federal Reserve event. It comes after the Fed left a global climate organization and disbanded committee studying the issue earlier this year. For NPR News, I'm Hannah Mersbach in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Recapping stocks on Wall Street, the Dow Jones was up 16 points at the close. The NASDA composite down 142. The SMP fell 15 points. This is NPR News in Washington.

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