NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-20-2025 12AM EST

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

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On NPR's Wildcard podcast, Kumail Nanjiani talks about his creative collaboration with his wife. What makes a good partnership between me and Emily is that, you know, we write together. We get notes from executives. And I'm always the one who's like, let's do them all. And she's like, let's do none of them. Watch or listen to that wildcard conversation on the NPR app or on YouTube at NPR Wildcard. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. Thousands of files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were made public by the Justice Department on Friday.

Congress had passed a law requiring to have all government documents about Epstein released this week, but the Trump administration has admitted that they still hold many other files with more being released at the end of the year. Congressman Rokane is a co-sponsor of that law, he says he's frustrated by Friday's release. People are taking a big risk by not enforcing the law. We also, of course, could have impeachment hearings against. either the Pambandi or the Deputy Attorney General, we could hold them an inherent contempt of Congress. But I don't want to go there just on one day. I mean, what I would prefer is that we get an explanation for where the other documents are and what their timeline is.

Many of the documents released on Friday are also heavily redacted. In a rare but temporary move Friday, the Supreme Court stopped the Trump administration's effort to ban immigration judges for making public remarks about their work or the immigration system overall. As NPR's Nina Totenberg reports, the case could also have implications for many other federal employees. At issue is a Trump administration policy that bars immigration judges from making any public remarks in their personal capacity about immigration or the agency that employs them unless the remarks are cleared first by administration officials. The judges, who are employees of the Justice Department, challenged the policy as a violation of their right to free speech. And when they won an interim victory in a federal appeals court, the administration promptly went to the Supreme Court, warning the justices of dire consequences if they didn't intervene.

But in an unexpected action, the court, with no noted dissents, let the immigration judge's case go forward, at least for now. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington. The Trump administration has now expanded a drug pricing deal so that it will include nine additional pharmaceutical makers. Those companies have agreed to sell new and existing drugs to the U.S. government at the same price as other developed countries. NPR's Yuki Noguchi has more on that story. The White House has been pressuring drug makers to equalize U.S. pricing with other countries. The administration says the U.S. pricing has been. 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. Wilman and you're listening to NPR News. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the flu, COVID-19, and RSV are all on the rise again. But the flu is hitting hardest, as NPR's Rob Stein reports. New York, Louisiana, and Colorado are already getting slammed by the flu, and flu activity is increasing throughout the country.

Some experts worry the U.S. may be in for another bad flu season. Part of the reason is that the dominant flu strain recently mutated. The mutated virus doesn't appear to make people sicker, but it does appear to spread more easily. That means more people could get sick and get seriously ill. So the CDC is urging anyone who hasn't gotten their flu shot to get one as soon as possible, especially with the holidays coming up. Rob Stein, in PR News. U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik says she's suspending her campaign for New York Governor

and will not seek re-election to Congress. Stefanik was a top Republican in the House and had at one point been considered by President Trump for an appointment to represent the U.S. at the United Nations. She said she did not want to spend much of the next year in a Republican primary for governor. A commemoration was held Friday on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, thousands of people gathered to honor those killed and wounded

when two gunmen opened fire last Sunday on a Hanukkah celebration. Those who gathered formed a large circle, in the ocean in an expression of solidarity with Sydney's Jewish community. Fifteen people were killed in the attack and dozens of others were wounded. Stocks closed up on Friday. The Dow was up 183 points. Nasdaq up 301 points. I'm Dale Wilman and PR News. 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.

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