NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-19-2025 9PM EST

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

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This message comes from Bayer. Science is a rigorous process that requires questions, testing, transparency, and results that can be proven. This approach is integral to every breakthrough Bayer brings forward. Innovations that save lives and feed the world. Science Delivers.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Trump administration expanded a drug pricing deal to include nine additional pharmaceutical makers. Those companies agreed to sell new and existing drugs to the U.S. government at the same prices other developed countries. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports. The White House has been pressuring drug makers to equalize U.S. pricing with other countries. The administration says these agreements will lower Medicaid drug prices.

Consumers who pay out of pocket will also be able to get lower prices for some of the company's most popular drugs through a government website called Trump RX. Under the agreements, Amgen, Merck, GSC, and others will also invest $150 billion in U.S. manufacturing operations. In exchange, the companies will be exempt from some of the administration's stiff tariffs for three years. Yuki Noguchi and PR News. Conservative leader Charlie Kirk's widow is announcing her support for Vice President J.D. Vance for President in 2028. Erica Kirk, who now leads the influential conservative group, her husband founded, made the announcement during a kickoff for Turning Points Conference in Phoenix yesterday. NPR's Sarah McCammon reports.

Vice President J.D. Vance has not declared his intention to run for president in 2028, though he is widely expected to seek the Republican nomination. At Turning Points America Fest Conference in Phoenix, Erica Kirk pledged her support for Vance. We are going to get my husband's friend, J.D. Vance, elected for 48 and the most resounding way possible. After Charlie Kirk's murder on September, 10th in Utah, Erica Kirk took over leadership of Turning Point USA, which her husband founded. Sarah McCammon, NPR News. A federal environmental review concludes the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline can continue operating. NPR's Jeff Brady reports the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe had challenged the government's decision to

permit the pipeline under a section of the Missouri River. Building the Dakota Access Pipeline attracted thousands of protesters in 2016 to the construction site south of Bismarck, North Dakota. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe opposed the Missouri River section near its reservation. Leaders said an oil spill would pollute drinking water. The pipeline has operated since 2017. In 2021, a federal appeals court told the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a more thorough environmental impact statement about the project. Now, the agency says it's done that and still decided the pipeline section should be approved. After a 30-day waiting period, the Corps is expected to issue a final decision. Jeff Brady, NPR News. Earlier this

week, President Trump promised $1,776 checks to troops calling it a warrior dividend funded by tariff revenues, but the bonus is actually a housing stipend already approved by Congress in last summer's tax and spending bill. Almost 1.3 million military members and 174,000 reservists will receive the supplement. This is NPR News. The head of the U.S. Equal, Implea, Employment Opportunity Commission is urging white men to report workplace discrimination based on race or sex. The announcement from the commission's chair, Andrea Lucas, follows Vice President J.D. Vance's criticism of DEI initiatives. Critics argue Lucas misunderstands DEI, which aims to create fairness for all. Japan's central bank raised interest rates to

their highest point in three decades in a bid to tame inflation. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports it's a contrast from the Fed's decision to lower U.S. interest rates this month. Bank of Japan raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.75%. It's the first raise since January and the 4th since March of 2024. Until then, Japan was the world's only major economy with negative interest rates, which it used to fight deflation or falling wages and prices. But in recent months, a weak yen has made imports more expensive, boosting inflation. Business confidence and wages are up. Japan's economy contracted in the third quarter due in part to U.S. tariffs. But the effects were milder than the central bank had predicted. The bank says if the

economy develops in line with their forecasts, they'll continue to raise interest rates. Anthony Kuhn, in PR News, Seoul. A British baker's critique of Mexican bread has sparked outrage on social media leading to a public apology. Richard Hart is co-founder of Green Rhino Bakery in Mexico City. He said Mexicans lack a bread culture, calling their roles ugly and cheap. Mexicans defended their bread highlighting staples like Bolios and Conchas, Hart later apologized. I'm Rylan Barton. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and Cs apply.