NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-20-2025 4AM EDT

Episode Date: September 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, D.C., I'm Dale Wilman. Just hours after the House approved legislation on largely partisan lines that funds federal agencies through most of November, the Senate failed to advance the bill. And as NPR's Deirdre Walsh reports, the prospect of a government shutdown is now increasing. The Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to advance a stopgap funding bill. Two Republicans and all but one Democrat opposed the bill the House had just approved. an alternative Democratic proposal also failed. House Speaker Mike Johnson says the Democrats pushed

to add an extension of health care subsidies to the package was a non-starter and says they should be blamed if the government shuts down. If they choose to vote against this clean, completely nonpartisan CR, then they will be choosing to shut the government down and they will owe the consequences of what happens following that. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be on recess next week. Unless the two chambers agree on a funding deal, a shutdown could start on October 1st. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News, the Capitol.

In Immigration Appeals Court has ordered the deportation of an Atlanta-based journalist. Mario Guevara has been in detention since June when he was arrested by ICE while covering a no-Kingesday protest. M.P.R. Sergio Martinez Beltran reports. The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that Spanish-language reporter Mario Guevara could be deported, making his removal to El Salvador imminent. Guevara left El Salvador more than two decades ago, fleeing violence. Since then, he's lived in the U.S., working as a journalist, often live streaming immigration enforcement operations. When he was arrested in Atlanta, he was charged with failing to disperse, but those charges

were later dropped by local prosecutors. Still, he was taken into ICE custody, despite having a work permit and a pending green card application. He's been detained at the Immigration Processing Center in Folkestone, Georgia. Gevara's attorneys are seeking emergency relief to keep him. in the U.S. Sergio Martinez Beltran and PR News,

Fauston, Georgia. The Trump administration Friday asked the Supreme Court to reinstate its policy requiring U.S. travelers to list their biological gender at birth on their passports. A federal judge in June

blocked that policy and a federal appeals court left the ruling in place pending appeal. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports. The Trump administration told the Supreme Court in its brief that private citizens cannot force the government

to use inaccurate sex designations on identification documents that fail to reflect the passport holder's biological sex at birth. That is so, said the administration, especially on documents that are on government property and involve the president's constitutional and statutory power to communicate with foreign governments. That's NPR's Nina Totenberg. It was a good day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 172 points. The NASDAQ finished up 160 points. This is NPR News. For the third time, the U.S. military has conducted a fatal strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat.

President Trump announced the action in a social media post-Friday. He said the strike targeted a vessel affiliated with a designated terrorist organization, and he said three males were killed in the attack. Two other similar strikes earlier this month killed 14 people. The U.N. Security Council has taken another step toward reimposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Russia says the European diplomats have no basis to push for this. But Britain, France, and Germany say returning sanctions as part of the deal they made a decade ago with Iran. M.Pier's Michelle Kellerman reports. Only four countries, China, Russia, Pakistan, and Algeria voted to permanently lift sanctions on Iran. That resolution failed, setting the stage for the sanctions to snap back later this month. These are sanctions that were suspended under the Iran nuclear deal, the one that the first Trump administration left. Britain, France, and Germany say Iran could avoid the return of sanctions if it allows U.N. inspectors back.

Iran's ambassador says the door is open for diplomacy. Iran's president is planning to speak next week at the U.N. General Assembly. The trip comes just months after U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Michelle Kellerman and PR News, the State Department. Sarah Schmousel had four birdies and an eagle in the back nine to take a share of the lead Friday in the LPGA Arkansas Championship, she's tied after one round with Japan's Menomikatsu, who posted a bogey-free 8-under par-63. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News in Washington.