NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-19-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. Congress has passed a bill forcing the release of the Jeffrey Epstein file, sending the measure to President Trump's desk. Trump has said he'll sign it into law. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports. The Senate quickly approved the bill by voice vote after the plan drew near unanimous support in the House. For much of the year, President Trump fought the release of the government records tied to the disgrace financier and convicted sex offender. But President Trump reversed his stance once the momentum shifted for passage of the Epstein-Files Transparency Act. The legislation directs the Justice Department to release the records within 30 days, allowing limited exceptions to withhold any information.

The bill's authors, Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey and California Democrat Rokana, warned the Trump Justice Department will face legal action if it does not fully. comply. Claudi Rizales, NPR News. A trade group representing major airlines is calling on Congress to permanently end aviation disruptions during government shutdowns. NPR's Joel Rose reports a Senate subcommittee heard testimony today about the shutdown and aviation safety. The head of Airlines for America, Chris Sununu, told the Senate Aviation Subcommittee that airlines support a bill that would ensure that air traffic controllers get paid during future government shutdowns. We need solutions like this to be implemented to shield the FAA and its workforce from the politics of a shutdown.

The FAA says it was forced to reduce the number of flights at major airports because of staffing shortages of air traffic controllers who were required to work without pay. Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth urged regulators to release the data behind that decision, suggesting the Trump administration may have weaponized the aviation system to score political points during the shutdown. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. Target issued a cautious forecast on holiday spending. today. NPR's Scott Horsley reports that's one of several clues investors are watching as they

try to assess the strength of the U.S. economy. Discout retailer Target says customers are keeping a tight grip on their pocketbooks, with most of their spending devoted to food and other essentials. Spending on discretionary items like home furnishings is down. Target reported a drop in same store sales for the most recent quarter and lowered its profit forecast for the full year. A federal judge ruled Facebook's parent company does not have a monopoly in the social networking space. The decision means meta will not have to spin off its Instagram or WhatsApp features. And new figures from the Commerce Department show the nation's trade deficits it shrank in August as higher tariffs took effect.

That report, along with many others, was delayed by the government shutdown. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Roger Federer has been elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He was the first man to win 20 Grand Slam singles titles. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. A veteran FBI employee is suing the agency saying he was fired after displaying an LGBTQ plus flag at his workspace. David Maltinsky had worked at the FBI for 16 years and had nearly completed special agent training in Quantico, Virginia, when he was fired by director Cash Patel and told he was being dismissed for inappropriate display of political signage.

A North Carolina biotech company says surgeons have for the first time implanted a 3D printed human cornea into a patient. And PR's Rob Stein has more. Precise Bio says the procedure was performed in Israel at the end of October to replace a cornea of a patient considered legally blind. The company created the implant with a 3D printer that uses human cornea cells grown in the lab to fabricate functional corneas. The hope is that mass-produced human corneas could help solve the shortage of corneas. Damaged corneas are a major cause of blindness. The company isn't saying how well the cornea is working, other than that the results so far are encouraging. The company plans to implant 3D-printed corneas into at least

nine more patients as part of an early study. Rob Stein, NPR News. NASA has unveiled close-up pictures of the interstellar comet that's making a quick trip through our solar system. The 3-I Atlas comet is only the third confirmed object to visit the solar system. It zipped past Mars last month. The closest the comet will come to Earth is 167 million miles away in mid-December. I'm Rylan Barton. This is NPR News.