NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-25-2025 12AM 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 Shay Stevens. The White House is threatening to lay off federal workers if there is a government shutdown on October 1st. Senate Majority Leader John Stoon says Republicans are still open to discussions on maintaining current spending through November 21st. But he says Democrats are insisting that proposed cuts to health care spending be reversed.

You shouldn't hijack a bill that will keep the government open in order to do a lot of extraneous things. And this is a program that costs $365 billion. And so if we're going to have that conversation, we should. But it ought to be in a place in time where we can work through some of these issues and look at some of the reforms that would come with that. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffrey says Democrats will not support any cuts to health care spending. President Trump canceled a plan meeting with Democrats for Thursday saying that it would not be productive. Authorities have now identified the gunmen in a deadly shooting at an iced detention facility in Dallas as 29-year-old Joshua John,

according to CBS news. Police say John opened fire, killing one detainee and injured two others before taking his own life. The motive for the attack is unclear. Vice President J.D. Vance made a stop and conquered North Carolina Wednesday in wake of a recent murder aboard a light rail train in Charlotte. WAFAE's Kenneth Lee has more. Speaking inside the Concord Paget Regional Airport, Vance addressed the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old, Irene Zerutska. Zerutska, a Ukrainian refugee. who was killed in Charlotte last month while taking the city's light rail.

Vance said it should have never happened. Because of soft-on-crime policies, she was murdered here, not in the war-torn country she came from. Isn't that a disgrace? He encouraged Governor Josh Stein to sign the state's new crime bill, which would end cashless bill, restart the death penalty, and hire new prosecutors. Some Democrats opposed the expansion of the death penalty. Vance also condemned the shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas and said Democrats need to take a look in the for npr news i'm kenneth lee and charlotte the u.s postal service says there will not be any additional

increases in the price of stamps this year the story from npr's hondi lo wang the price of a first class forever stamp has gone up seven times over the past four years but the u.s postal service which is a financial support of npr says that until at least mid-20206 it's staying at 78 cents that's among the world's lowest prices for mailing a letter domestically but compared to decades ago fewer people and businesses are using first-class mail to send bills, payments, and advertising, and that's destabilizing the U.S. Postal Service, which generally receives no tax dollars to keep it running. USPS relies instead on selling stamps and other service fees. The Postal Regulatory Commission recently approved temporary price hikes of close to 6% for certain UPS shipping services starting next month.

Like those put in place by FedEx and UPS, those increases are set to last through the year-end holiday season. Hansi Luong, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. A judge in New York is warning the Justice Department to stop making public comments about the suspect in the murder of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson. Judge Margaret Garnett says at least two senior DOJ officials have defied court rules by making comments that could prejudice the case. Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Thompson outside of a Manhattan high rise last December. He's pleaded not guilty to murder and stalking charges. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the indefinite closure of a key crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The move comes several days after a Jordanian driver killed two Israeli soldiers.

NPR's Nuha Musle has the story. This crossing through the Alambi Bridge is the only passage for about 3 million Palestinians from the West Bank to get into neighboring Jordan from where they can then travel to other. countries. So travelers, and also much of the trade between the rest of the world and Palestinian areas of the West Bank, passed through this entrance, closing it for long periods of time with paralyzed Palestinian people's movement and could hold much of the West Bank's economy. The Palestinian Authority, which governs much of the West Bank, called the crossings closure, quote, collective punishment, and said Palestinians are now stuck in a, quote, large sealed prison. Noah Musla, NPR News, Ramallah, the West Bank.

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