NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-24-2025 10PM EDT

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

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Congress is back from its summer recess with a lot on its agenda. What's all in store for lawmakers and what does their work mean for you? Every weekday, the NPR Politics podcast unpacks Washington's inner workings. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. A shooting earlier today in Dallas, Texas, left at least. one dead and multiple injured at an ice facility. NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran says the victim's identities are unknown. The Department of Homeland Security says all of the victims were

ICE detainees. Maida, a Nicaraguan immigrant who was inside the facility when the shooting happened, says it was terrifying. There were like 20 shots, Maida says. She froze and got scared for her daughter who was waiting for her outside. She asked NPR not use her last name because of her pending immigration case. The alleged shooter was found dead. Their identity has not been revealed, but officials say it was a targeted act of violence. The FBI says shell casings with anti-ice messages were found by the suspect's body. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Dallas. The government will shut down in one week if lawmakers don't come up with a funding plan. President Trump canceled a meeting with congressional Democrats calling their demands unsurious.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats want to boost funding for health care and are willing to negotiate with Republicans. We will partner in a bipartisan way to try to find common ground in order to enact a spending bill that actually meets the needs of the American people. Democrats are proposing rolling back Medicaid changes in President Trump's signature tax bill and extending tax credits for Obamacare health plans. Republicans say reversing Medicaid changes is a non-starter. Signs containing information about climate change and Native American history have been removed from Maine's Acadia National Park. It's part of a Trump administration effort to reframe educational materials on federal property. Maine Public Radio's Molly Enking reports. Informational blurbs asked hikers to protect the fragile ecosystem by staying on trails

and detailed how rising seas and intense storms due to climate change, affect the park. Main Congresswoman Shelley Pingree called the ongoing effort to remove educational information from parks across the country extremely disturbing. When did scientific fact become political speech? I mean, this idea that teaching people about science or the weather or all of the things you can learn by being in national park seems to me part of the visitor experience. Pingree joined other lawmakers in a letter to the National Park Service expressing concern that these efforts divert attention from addressing much-needed park maintenance projects. For NPR News, I'm Molly Enking in Portland, Maine.

The family of one of the 67 people killed when a plane crashed with an army helicopter over Washington, D.C. in January, is suing the government and airlines involved. The family accused them of failing to recognize warning signs after more than 30 documented near misses in the area. From Washington, this is NPR News. Syria's president addressed the United Nations today. It was the first time a Syrian head of state had done so in nearly six decades. Ahmad al-Sharah rose to power last December when he ousted Bashar Assad after nearly 14 years of civil war.

The last time a Syrian president spoke to the UN was in 1967, shortly after the Arab-Israeli war, when Syria lost control of the Golan Heights to Israel. The California coast was once teeming with Olympia oysters. They were an important food source for Native Americans. and gold rushers, but because of over-harvesting and coastal development, there's hardly any left. Jill Replagal reports on one effort to bring them back. Every two weeks, Craig Schopner pulls up strings of discarded oyster shells from restaurants hanging off of his dock in Huntington Harbor.

He checks to see whether any baby oysters have latched on. Yeah, I don't see any oysters yet. Schopner and some 80 of his neighbors around the harbor have been caring for these shellsters, since the spring. The nonprofit organization Coastkeeper will soon collect them and transfer any baby oysters, called SPAT, to a nearby wetlands area. The goal is to rebuild the once abundant oyster beds along the coast to improve water quality and help prevent erosion in the face of rising seas. For NPR News, I'm Jill Replegal in Huntington Beach. Instagram now has three billion monthly active users, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

That's a billion more than the last time Zuckerberg. shared user figures in October 2022. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and Cs apply.