NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-25-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

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I'm Rachel Martin. If you're tired of small talk, check out the Wild Card podcast. I invite your favorite celebrities to open up about the big topics we all think about but rarely talk about. Tune in this fall to hear Matthew McConaughey, Shonda Rhymes, and Padma Lakshmi. Talk about everything from grief and God to ambition and forgiveness. Watch or listen on the NPR app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. The White House says a government shutdown on October 1st would lead to the permanent layoffs of federal employees. The announcement coming after President Trump canceled a planned meeting with Democratic congressional leaders. More from NPR's Tamper Keith. President Trump says he wants congressional Democrats to agree to a short-term bill keeping government funding at current levels.

If they don't, there's now a threat of consequences. In a memo to agency heads obtained by NPR, the White House Office of Management, Budget says that if there is a shutdown, they expect agencies to issue reduction in force notices to employees working on projects that are not consistent with the president's priorities. This would be a significant shift from past government shutdowns when employees were only temporarily furloughed. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it an attempt at intimidation. Tamara Keith, NPR News. According to CBS, an ICE official has identified the gunman in the fatal shooting outside of a Dallas immigration detention facility as 29-year-old Joshua John. Police say the shooter fired into a van, killing one detainee and injuring two others before taking his own life.

Vice President J.D. Vance addressed the matter during a stop near Raleigh, North Carolina, as heard here on WSOC. There's some evidence that we have that's not yet public, but we know this person was politically motivated. politically motivated to go after law enforcement. They were politically motivated to go after people who are enforcing our border. Vance has called the shooting a consequence of anti-law enforcement rhetoric. The Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to end protections against racial discrimination in the redrawing of election maps. NPR's Hansi Luong reports that the court could soon determine the future of the landmark law. In a friend of the court brief for a lawsuit over Louisiana's map of congressional districts. The Justice Department argues the Voting

Act's longstanding legal protections against racial discrimination and redistricting are no longer constitutional. The DOJ's filing comes months after it started stepping away from multiple voting rights lawsuits that were first brought during former President Joe Biden's administration. A series of rulings by the Supreme Court's conservative majority have already weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Now, many of the laws advocates fear that the rare second round of oral arguments the court has ordered for this Louisiana case on October 15th could be setting up a decision that ends key remaining protections for minority voters. Anzila Wong, NPR News.

Relatives of one of the people killed in a mid-air collision near Washington, D.C., last January, is suing the government and the airlines involved. An American Airlines jet carrying 67 people collided with an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport. There were no survivors. The plaintiffs are blaming both American and the Federal Aviation Administration for the crash. You're listening. to NPR. Some 6.3 million viewers tuned in Tuesday night to watch the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The host was suspended over comments that angered supporters of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel's show remains off the air in about a quarter of the local ABC affiliates owned by Nextstar in Sinclair broadcasting. Harvesting and coastal development along the California coasts have nearly depleted the Olympia oyster population, and wants an important food source for Native Americans and gold rushers. Jill Rep. Logal 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. Shopner and some 80 of his neighbors around the harbor have been caring for these shell strings 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. In northern Maine, it took a rescue team about five hours to rescue a bull moose that fell into an abandoned well and became stuck. The operation was reportedly launched after the owner of the land spotted a pair of antlers and thick trees and brush.

The animal reportedly fled once the sedative use to calm it down were off. This is NPR News. 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. Tease and Cs apply.