NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-03-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. This is day 34 of the government shutdown. It's one day shy of equaling the longest on record, one that ended in January of 2019. NPR's Barbara Sprunt says Senate Democrats remain opposed to voting to reopen the government until Republican lawmakers agree to extend health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. Democrats have been really lockstep in this, at least in public. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been able to keep his caucus together. The number of people who voted alongside Republicans to fund the government earlier on the eve of the shutdown has remained at three. There's been a lot of discipline in messaging from the Democrats, you know, the focus on health care, talking about how Republicans will own the blame of a shutdown because they control Congress and the White House. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly voted to reopen the government saying that should be. done before negotiating on those health care subsidies. President Trump tells CBS's 60 Minutes he won't be extorted by Democrats to get the government reopened. Open enrollment has begun

on health care.gov, the Affordable Care Act marketplace. This year, there's been a lot of attention on federal subsidies for premiums, as NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin explains. About half of the 24 million people who enroll in Affordable Care Act plans own or work for a small business. When apply for a plan, they get a subsidy for their premium based on their estimated income. If they have a better than expected year, they have to repay some of the subsidy. This year, for the first time, there's no cap on how much people may have to pay back. I'm beside myself. Angel Strobel runs a small business in Georgia.

She's reached out to her congressional representatives, both Democrats and Republicans. To let them know, like, listen, you guys aren't talking about this. This is a huge deal. She says small businesses could be blindsided by needing to pay back tens of thousands of dollars when they go to file their taxes. Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases challenging the president's power to impose tariffs. Traditionally, that's been the prerogative of Congress. Michael McConnell represents one of the plaintiffs.

He's also a constitutional law professor at Stanford University and a former federal judge. I think there are good reasons why on an emergency docket, where there is a district court order from a single district judge without full argument, without a full decision, I think the court has been deferential to the executive under those circumstances. But this is a fully argued case based upon an entire record and a final judgment. I think that the court is going to decide this according to the law. It was speaking to NPR's weekend edition Sunday. The high court will hear. arguments in the two cases on Wednesday. This is NPR News from Washington. More airline flight delays were reported over the weekend at airports across the U.S. amid the government shutdown. There were dozens of flight delays yesterday at airports in Newark, New Jersey and Chicago, as well as Dallas and Houston because of shortages of air traffic controllers. Airports in Los Angeles and Miami also reported delays. Belgium's defense

Chief is threatening to shoot down the next drone that enters his country's airspace. As Terry Schultz reports from Brussels, drones have been seen repeatedly hovering over a military base that houses U.S. nuclear weapons. For the second night in a row, drones were spotted flying over the Kleinebrugel military base in northeast Belgium. That's one of the locations in Europe, where the U.S. stores nuclear weapons. It's the third military base in Belgium where drones have been detected in recent weeks. Belgian defense minister, Teo Franken, who is previously said he wants to take down any such unmanned aerial vehicle seen above bases, reports that a weapon that should have done that jammed in the latest incident.

Franken says police tried to track the drones by helicopter and car, but they got away. The minister says he'll urgently ask the government for more resources to combat drones this week. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. Yesterday's NFL games included the Jacksonville Jaguars beating the Las Vegas Raiders in overtime, 30 to 29. In that game, Jaguars kicker, Cam Little, set an NFL record by kicking a 68-yard field goal in the first half. Little broke the all-time mark held by Justin Tucker of the Ravens who kicked a 66-yarder four seasons ago. I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington.