NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-17-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled that National Guard troops can remain in the city for now. The decision comes after a different federal appeals court ruled that troops must leave Los Angeles earlier this week. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports. A three-judge panel voted unanimously for Guard troops to remain in Washington while they examined the larger legality of the deployment. In a 30-page opinion, the judges write that Washington's unique federal status allows President Trump to largely control the deployment of troops in the city. They also say the Trump administration is likely to win the overall case. There have been more than 2,000 troops in Washington since August, both from the district and several Republican-led states.

Hundreds more were added after a targeted attack on National Guard troops killed one and wounded another last month. But the judges also raised serious doubts about the lawfulness of deployments in other cities. many of which have been stopped after orders by federal judges. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Washington. President Trump says he's ordering what he calls a total and complete blockage of all sanctioned oil tankers moving in and out of Venezuela. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports Trump provided few details on the move while escalating tensions with the country. Trump made the announcement in a social media post, which also said that Trump is planning to grow what he called an armada of U.S. off the Venezuelan coast. The more than 200-word post accused Venezuela of stealing, quote,

oil, land, and other assets from the U.S., but did not explain what he meant by that, nor did it give any details on the announced action. The White House did not immediately respond to NPR's questions about the post. Trump has in recent weeks suggested he would start strikes on Venezuelan soil soon. However, as White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, acknowledged to Vanity Fair in an article published this week, any land attacks would require congressional approval. Danielle Kurtzleben and PR News. Federal Communication Commission Chairman Brendan Carr told his Senate committee today

that the FCC is not formally independent. That came amid a tense exchange with Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico. Just so you know, Brendan, on your website, it just simply says, man, the FCC is independent. This isn't a trick question. Okay, the FCC is not. Is not. Okay. Is not an independent. Is your website wrong? Is your website line? Possibly. The FCC is not an independent agency. Shortly after the hearing, the FCC appeared to remove the word independent from a description of its work on its website. Car's appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee was his first since sparking controversy by pressuring ABC to take comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air. Stocks are trading lower on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow is down 163 points.

This is NPR. The House is set to vote today on a Republican-back plan addressing health care costs. It's a bill that would allow Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire. Those subsidies help millions of Americans afford health insurance. Premiums are expected to increase on January 1st. China says it's taking back Japan's last two pandas, admitted diplomatic chill between the two countries. Thousands of people are streaming to the Tokyo Zoo where the two black and white twin pandas are living to say goodbye.

NPR's Emily Fang has more. China leases out its pandas to countries, including the U.S., where the host country pays China sometimes upwards of a million dollars in animal every year to have the pandas. Japan has rented pandas continuously from China for the last half century until now. The pandas, Xia Xiao and Leli, will not have their star. stay in Japan extended and are leaving for China in late January. China's been unhappy with Japan's new prime minister because she'd made remarks characterizing a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan nearby as a threat to Japan's survival. Since those remarks, China's warned its citizens not to travel to Japan, put import controls back on some Japanese seafood, and delayed Japanese films from being

shown in China. Emily Fang and Peer News. The U.S. Mint says the three-five final three one-cent coins ever produced have sold at auction. The three-penny set went for $800,000. I'm Windsor Johnston, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.