NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-26-2025 2PM EDT

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

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Here at Life Kit, we encourage you throughout life's big moments. But what about support for those smaller problems? Sometimes you just need a tiny pep talk. Like, for when your clothes don't fit. Or? For when you want to order delivery, but should cook. That's this week from NPR's Life Kit. Listen in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. A federal judge has dismissed an unusual lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against the entire federal bench in the state of Maryland. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports the Trump administration sued to challenge an order that barred the immediate removal of detained migrants. In its lawsuit, the Trump administration says the District of Maryland federal court exceeded its authority and violated the law when it put in place a temporary freeze on deportations of any migrant who filed a petition challenging their detention. The administration said the pause amounted to judicial interference in the executive branch prerogatives. Because all 15 federal district court judges in Maryland were named as defendants in the civil lawsuit, a federal judge in Virginia. Trump appointee Thomas Cullen was tapped to oversee the case. Now Cullen has dismissed the administration's lawsuit.

He says to do otherwise would break with overwhelming legal precedent and constitutional tradition, as well as offend the rule of law. Ryan Lucas and Pierre News, Washington. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is preparing to challenge President Trump in court after he said he would fire her. Cook's attorney says what Trump's threatening is illegal. And Pierre Scott Horsley reports Trump's ally Bill Pulte accuses Cook of mortgage fraud. Pulte's leveled similar charges at other Trump antagonists like Adam Schiff, the senator from California, Letitia James, the attorney general from New York. The president said in a social media post he does not have confidence in Cook and that that's enough cause

to remove her. By law, governors at the central bank can only be removed for cause, which is designed to protect the Fed from political meddling by the White House. NPR Scott Horsley. The Democratic National Committee is holding its summer meeting this week in Minneapolis. NPR Stephen Fowler reports party leaders are detailing their plans to push back on unpopular Trump administration policies. DNC Chair Ken Martin calls Trump a, quote, dictator-in-chief whose agenda is, quote, fascism in a red tie. He also says Democrats have to do more to fight back. Now look, folks, I'm sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight. Martin's been head of the DNC for six months. He says one thing the party should do is stop

trying to win arguments over policy and politics and do more to win future elections. That includes talking about tariffs and their impact on prices and the unpopular tax breaks and cuts to social services in the so-called one big beautiful bill. Stephen Fowler and PR News, Minneapolis. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey are officially engaged. The pop superstar said yes, when her Kansas City chief's boyfriend of two years, pop the question in a garden out of a fairy talebook.

They announced their engagement today in an Instagram post featuring images of Kelsey down on one knee, flowers galore, and a close-up of Swift's left hand now adorned with a big diamond ring. This is NPR. news. The 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is not until this Friday, but community groups in New Orleans are already holding cultural events in tribute to the city's resilience since the

catastrophic storm struck the Gulf Coast two decades ago. Eva Tess 5, Member Station WWNO reports. The Katrina 20 Week of Action includes dozens of events remembering Hurricane Katrina, including a performance of the play, swimming upstream, the Katrina monologues and an art exhibition about New Orleans culture across the country called Katrina a neo-diaspora. Asali Devon Ecclesiastes is the executive director of the Ache Cultural Art Center in New Orleans. So many things that happened around Katrina 10, we didn't want to happen around Katrina 20. Most importantly, being that the voices of the people who actually

experienced Katrina were not centered. These commemorations stretched beyond New Orleans to Alabama and Mississippi, where people were also affected by the storm. For NPR News, I'm Yvita Zvi in New Orleans. If Pumpkins's your thing, it's your week, Starbucks might be trying to get a jump on the seasonal competition by putting its popular pumpkin spice latte on its U.S. and Canada menus now. Other major chains, such as McDonald's and Dunkins, are also bringing back pumpkin and some of their hot drinks when it starts to get a little nippy, even if that chili breeze is still blowing out of an AC. The Dow's off three points. The SMP is up three, and the NASDAQ has gained 17 points. I'm Lakshmi Singh. NPR news. On the next through line from NPR, she becomes, for lack of a better word, at Tupperware Queen.

It just never seemed to occur to her that her growth in any endeavor could be stunted because she happened to be a woman. The Tupperware tycoon, Brownie Wise. Listen to ThruLine in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.