NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-12-2025 5AM EST

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington. I'm Dave Mattingley. Congress could formally end the government shutdown as soon as today. Early this morning, the House Rules Committee voted to advance a resolution passed by the Senate that calls for the government to be reopened. It funds much of the government through January and some federal agencies through September of next year. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are unhappy the measure does not extend health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. That's something they've been demanding. Democrat Teresa Ledger Fernandez of New Mexico says she, too, wants those subsidies extended.

And it is true. We only lose this fight if we give up the fight. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is promising a Senate vote to extend the subsidies by mid-December. Federal employees who've been furloughed are preparing to go back to work with the government shutdown expected to end. Elise Gregg with the Gulf State's news, room spoke to one such worker who says she's been using her time to volunteer in the community. For Joyce Robinson, a veteran and civilian employee with the National Guard, staying busy while she's away from her job isn't an option.

We have not been working for the last 40 days, and I just felt like giving my time back doing something that's rewarding to me, made me feel like I was at work. She's been volunteering with Mississippi Food Network, which has helped support those who haven't received SNAP benefits this month. In the meantime, she's trying to make ends meet herself. It's not like I don't have any food in the house. It's just, you know, the unknown, not knowing that I haven't received a check in 40 days. She's optimistic about coming back to work soon, though. For NPR news, I'm Elise Gregg in Jackson. This is day 43 of the government shut down the longest on record. President Trump's recent pardons of 77 people linked to efforts

to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election do not apply to any state charges against the individuals. That includes Trump's one-time lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who's involved in a criminal case in Georgia. Alex Helmick, with member station W.A.B.E. has more from Atlanta. The massive RICO case originally brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fawney Willis still does not have a prosecuting attorney. That's after a Georgia court removed Willis because her relationship with a special prosecutor created an appearance of impropriety. The prosecuting attorney's counsel of Georgia has to name her replacement by November 14th or the indictments are dismissed. In a statement, the council's executive director, Pete Scandalakis,

said Trump's pardons only apply to federal charges, not state, and his office is working on their assigned task without being influenced by outside actions. For NPR News, I'm Alex Hummick in Atlanta. Wall Street futures are higher this morning. Dow futures are up 89 points. NASDAQ futures are up 179. This is NPR News. A rural county in Kansas has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit over its role in a police raid on a local newspaper. Frank Morris with member station KCUR reports. In the summer of 2023, Marion Kansas's entire five-member police force and two sheriff's deputies. stormed the town's newspaper office and the publisher's home, confronting the publisher's 98-year-old mother who had a heart attack and died the next day. The officers seized computers and cell phones looking for evidence that the paper had improperly obtained confirmation of a local business owner's drunk driving conviction. It hadn't. The $3 million payment will be split between the publisher to reporters and the town's former vice mayor whose home was also raided. The agreement does not

clear the police chief of criminal charges for allegedly obstructing an investigation of the raids or the city's liability in approving them. For NPR news, I'm Frank Morris. Scientists say the colorful northern lights could be visible today across much of the upper half of the U.S. The reason severe solar storms that may also disrupt radio and GPS communications temporarily. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, say the effects of the solar bursts will depend in part on how they interact with Earth's atmosphere. They say the northern lights could be visible as far south as Alabama. Frost advisories and freeze warnings were in effect this morning in the southeastern U.S.

The areas include southeast Alabama, southern Georgia, and northern and central Florida. I'm Dave Mattingly, NPR News, in Washington.