NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-31-2025 8PM EDT

Episode Date: November 1, 2025

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We talk about how the government isn't working, but what about when it does? I have to say I renewed my passport for the first time online, and it was awesome. I am so glad to hear that. Ideas about restoring trust and democracy by making systems just work better. Listen to the TED Radio Hour on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump says he wants the courts to give his administration direction on using contingency funds to pay for SNAP food assistance benefits that are set to expire tomorrow. This after two federal judges today ruled the administration has to continue paying the benefits despite the federal government shutdown.

But it's not clear how fast that could happen. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. Keep in mind that when you have a lapse in programs, oftentimes it may not be possible to just, flip that switch immediately, that you will see a gap there. Certainly, at a minimum, you would hope that at least partial payouts could be made so that you don't have a situation where individuals have absolutely nothing. So I don't know logistically how this happens. Speaking there on NPR's All Things Considered, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled today that President Trump doesn't have the legal authority to order changes to the National Voter Registration

form and add a requirement to show documents proving citizenship. MPIRS Jude Jaffe Block has more. Trump signed an executive order in March that calls for sweeping changes to voting in election procedures, including changing the National Voter Registration Form, to add a new requirement that would-be voters show proof of citizenship documents to register to vote. Democrats and civil rights and voting groups sued, arguing the president doesn't have that authority. The judge agreed, writing in her order on Friday, quote, Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the states, not the president, with the power to regulate federal elections.

Neither the White House or the Justice Department responded immediately to NPR's request for comment. Other parts of Trump's executive order on voting continued to be litigated. Jude Jaffe Block, NPR News. Some leading Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are urging the Trump administration to consider putting a paramilitary group fighting in Sudan on a terrorism blacklist. They say the rapid support forces, the RSF, is carrying out a targeted assault on civilians in Darfur. And here's Michelle Kellerman reports. The Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Rish, and the ranking Democrat Gene Jeh, were joined by four other senators in sounding the alarm about the atrocities in Sudan Civil War. now in its third year. They say the U.S. should designate the RSF as a foreign terrorist organization

or put it on another terrorist blacklist. They blame both sides, the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces of committing atrocities, and they say several countries are fueling the conflict and profiting from it. That includes the United Arab Emirates, which backs the RSF, as well as Russia, Iran, China, and other governments that are involved. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Washington. You're listening to NPR News. A wave of RSV, a common respiratory virus, is sweeping over the United States. It can cause pneumonia and severe inflammation in the lungs. The disease is hitting infants especially hard, as Scott Massione from Member Station WIPR reports.

RSV is now the leading cause of emergency room visits for infants, according to data from the Yale School for Public Health. About 1.2% of ER visits nationwide among those under one year old is due to the disease. That's three times more than a month earlier. RSV is particularly dangerous for babies, older adults, and people who are immunocompromised. It's responsible for as much as 300 deaths in children under the age of 5 in the U.S. each year and hospitalizes up to 80,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RSV vaccines are recommended for infants, people in later pregnancy, those with the health,

medical conditions and everyone over the age of 75. For MPR news, I'm Scott Mossione. The corpse flower is in bloom, sending out its scent on Halloween at the New York Botanical Garden. Visitors flock to the Bronx to get a whiff of a flower that's supposed to smell like death, or as many describe it, like rotting meat. The corpse flower doesn't have a blooming season like most flowers, meaning it's unpredictable, and it's short-lasting only 24 to 48. The NYBG is currently live streaming the event for the brief bloom. Wall Street was hired by the closing bell. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors. On our new show, Sources and Methods, NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.