NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-02-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump says he will reshape the federal workforce during the government shutdown. On social media, Trump said he is discussing spending and personnel cuts, evaluating, quote, which of the many Democrat agencies would be cut. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is blaming Trump and congressional Republicans for the shutdown. What's clear is that the American people know who shut the government down, and it's Donald Trump and Republicans. That's clearly the American people because Republicans control.

the House, the Senate, and the presidency, and Republicans, the Trump administration, have been engaging in mass firings since the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency. Democrats are holding out on Republican proposals to fund the government at current levels in an effort to pass an extension of tax credits for Affordable Care Act insurance plans. Those Obamacare tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year. As NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports, a new analysis finds the premiums people pay for those health plans are set to double. This goes back to a 2021 law that created enhanced premium tax credits. Those run out at the end of December unless Congress acts.

Cynthia Cox of the Health Research Organization, KFF, just co-authored an analysis on what will happen to people's premiums next year. On average, we're expecting premium payments by enrollees to increase by 114% if these enhanced tax credits expire. So that means a lot of people are going to have to pay double the monthly premium they're paying now. Or they might switch to a plan with a much higher deductible, or they might lose their coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if the enhanced tax credits expire over the next several years, 4 million people will become uninsured.

Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News, Washington. The Trump administration is asking nine schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to adopt certain policies in exchange for preferential treatment in federal funding. From member station GBAH, Kirk Carapetso reports that some university officials are objecting to the proposal. Under the proposed deal, colleges would have to ban race or gender considerations in admissions and hiring, freeze tuition, and cap international enrollment at 15%. McKell de Graf teaches linguistics at MIT, where he's been accused of harassing a Jewish student.

He sees the compact as a major escalation of the campus culture wars. For me, it's nothing new. Faculty have been quite timidated, but I hope they will join the fight before it's too late. MIT confirmed to GBAH it has received the memo from the Trump administration, but declined to comment. For NPR News, I'm Kirk Carrapeza in Boston. Tesla sales jumped over the last quarter. The electric carmaker benefited from a rush of consumers, nabbing $7,500 credits before it expired on September 30th.

From Washington, you're listening to NPR News. An immigration judge has denied a bid for asylum from Kilmar, Abrago-Garcia, the man who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador and was mistakenly deported there in March. He has 30 days to appeal. A judge ruled in 2019 that Abrago-Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. This week's number one album comes with. with a twist. It was certified platinum on the day of its release. NPR's Stephen Thompson has more. Typically, it takes time for a hit album to be certified platinum. It sells a lot of copies and

racks up streams in the days and weeks after its release. But Am I the Drama by the rapper Cardi B was already platinum the moment it came out. That's because two of its songs were colossal hits four or five years ago. The chart toppers Wop and Up. Those songs had never appeared on an album before. Now that they are on Am I the Drama, the record gets retroactive credit for billions of song streams. Am I the Drama also features loads of new songs, 16 of them hit this week's Hot 100 singles chart, and the album itself debuts at number one. Stephen Thompson, NPR News.

The largest hot air ballooning event in the world takes place this weekend, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta kicks off Saturday with a mass ascension of colorful balloons. Fiesta attendees can walk among the inflating balloons, talk to pilots, and enjoy breakfast burritos and Pinoe coffee. From Washington, this is NPR News.