NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-23-2025 6PM EDT

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Trump administration has finalized a plan to open the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. It's one of the nation's most sensitive wilderness areas, home to polar bears, caribou, and other wildlife. Now the Interior Department says it will sell land there for oil and gas exploration this winter. More than a million federal workers are set to miss another paycheck in the coming days due to the government shutdown. As NPR's Andrea Shoe reports, community organizations are being flooded with requests for help. The Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, created its Federal Worker Solidarity Fund earlier this year to help federal employees who lost their jobs in mass layoffs.

Now, with tens of thousands of federal workers in the region, going without paychecks during the shutdown, applications for emergency assistance have soared. Sig Males is the group's director. It's folks asking for food assistance, it's rent, mortgages, its utility bills, and car payments. Elsewhere in the country, credit unions have seen a surge in applications for short-term interest-free loans, which they're providing to help their federal employee members bridge the gap until the shutdown ends. Andrea Shue and PR News. President Trump is threatening to expand his military campaign against alleged drug cartels.

The administration says it launched two strikes against drug boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean Lass. last night. Seven previous strikes targeted vessels in the Caribbean. In total, the operations have killed 37 people. Now Trump is threatening a land invasion and says he might even seek approval from lawmakers. You know, the land is going to be next. And we may go to the Senate. We may go to the, you know, Congress and tell them about it. But I can't imagine that have any problem with it. Experts have questioned the legality of the strikes. Trump justifies them by saying the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels. The Trump administration is defending charges to the changes to the President's White House ballroom project.

President Trump initially said the construction wouldn't interfere with the current building. Now a White House official tells NPR the entire East Wing will be demolished. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports. At her latest briefing, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt defended changes to the project. With any construction project, there are changes over time as you assess what the project is going to look like. and we'll continue to keep you apprised of all of those changes, but just trust the process. Trump said Wednesday that the ballroom would cost $300 million, up from an earlier estimate of $200 million. The White House has said the project will be paid for by President Trump and donors, including Amazon, Google, and Lockheed Martin.

Levitt said the White House would report later how much Trump himself spends on his ballroom. Danielle Kurtzleben and PR News, the White House. U.S. stocks rose today. The SMP 500 climbed six-tenths of a percent. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Home sales accelerated last month as declining mortgage rates and more available properties encouraged homebuyers. The National Association of Realtors says existing home sales rose one and a half percent last month from August. Sales were up more than 4 percent compared to the same time last year. The housing market has been in a slump since 2022 when mortgage rates climbed from historic lows.

Broadway's musicians and producers reached a tentative agreement. for a new three-year contract, averting a strike which would have shut down 23 musicals. Jeff London reports it was a dramatic last-minute turn of events. Following an all-night negotiation, local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians in the Broadway League, the Association of Producers and Theater Owners, came to an agreement at 4.30 a.m. According to the Union, the three-year deal provides both meaningful wage and health benefit increases, while maintaining strong contract protections. The union had been working without a contract since August 31st.

The agreement still needs to be ratified by members, as does an agreement between producers and actors who settled last week. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. Microsoft's paperclip assistant, Clippy, will not be the software giant's new virtual assistant. Instead, it'll be Miko, a floating cartoon. face shaped like a flame or a blob, the launch comes as AI developers navigate how to present chatbots in an engaging way without causing annoyance. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.