NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-20-2025 4PM EDT

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

NPR News: 10-20-2025 4PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. It's state 20 of the federal government shutdown. NPR's Deirdre Walsh is following the prolonged stalemate between congressional Republicans and Democrats and its impact on federal workers. The Senate will vote for an 11th time tonight on a bill that funds federal agencies through November 21st. Democrats are expected to block it, insisting any deal to reopen the government must address expiring health care subsidies. The Trump administration moved money around to pay the military and tapped tariff revenue to keep a nutrition program going. Virginia Democratic Congressman James Walkenshaw supports paying the troops, but says this strategy isn't sustainable. Every day that the shutdown continues, it's harder for the administration to try to play whack-a-mole and mitigate impacts. Until the consequences of the shutdown are more widely felt by the public, there's less pressure on Congress, to end it. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News. New research shows a dramatic drop in peanut allergies among children. Dr. David Hill

co-authored a study published today in the Medical Journal of Pediatrics, a decade after federal guidelines were changed showing that feeding peanut products to young babies appears to help prevent development of life-threatening allergies. Today is the deadline for multiple colleges to decide whether they'll join the Trump administration's proposed compact for academic excellence in higher education. Kirk Carrapeza of member station GBAH reports in New England, MIT, Brown, and Dartmouth have already said

no thanks. Those three schools passed on the offer of preferential treatment in federal funding in exchange for meeting a long list of demands like capping international enrollment and limiting what faculty can say. Ted Mitchell is president of the American Council

on Education. He says the compact is bad for colleges and the country. This is nothing short. of a government attempt to make institutions creatures of the state. And that's so antithetical to what higher education is and does. Mitchell says higher ed has plenty of work to do when it comes to controlling costs, improving degree completion rates, and fostering ideological diversity. But he says none of that should be dictated by the government.

For NPR News, I'm Kirk Tarpeza in Boston. While the GOP generally resist hider gun control, the Trump administration is pursuing just that for people who habitually use any illegal drugs, including marijuana, even though cannabis is illegal or has been decriminalized in large parts of the U.S. The Supreme Court is taking up the case of a Texas man who says a law violates his constitutional right to possess a firearm. Same law for which former President Joe Biden's son Hunter was convicted, he was later pardoned by his father. From Washington, this is NPR News. The Trump administration's working to keep a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas from collapsing. NPR's Janeira Raff reports the president's top envoys have returned to Israel.

His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Middle East envoys Steve Whitkoff are now in Israel for talks on what's next for the ceasefire and trying to shore up this current fragile phase. Vice President J.D. Vance is expected in Israel tomorrow as well. And while that's happening, there are also talks with Hamas in Egypt. NPR's Janiraf reporting. Today is the start of Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by Hindu Sikhs and others worldwide. But the U.S. tariffs on Indian goods are making the celebration more expensive this year. From member station WBHM in Birmingham, Vahini Shori reports. Asian grocery store and you may notice steep price increases on staple goods like wheat flour, rice, and oil. The Trump administration added an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods in August, because India continues to purchase Russian oil. Lena Mosley is a professor

of politics and international affairs at Princeton University. She says the ripple effects of the tariffs are still playing out. We're still, I think, only beginning to see the economic impact of these tariffs. Mosley says the additional 25% is retaliatory. with the intention of shaping foreign policy and trade. For now, customers may have to make tougher choices about how this year's celebration looks and tastes. For NPR news, I'm Vahini Shori. The Dow's closed up more than 500 points.

It's NPR News.