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

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. The Justice Department has begun the release of files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as required by a law passed overwhelmingly by Congress last month. Some members say it's not enough. Democratic Congresswoman Teresa Ledger Fernandez of New Mexico says the Justice Department is not in compliance. They knew this was coming. They have been looking at those files since February. It is shameful that they have found. failed the American people, the survivors, and women across the America this way.

She was interviewed by ABC, as was Republican Dimbichette of Tennessee. He defended the release so far. Are they complying by the law? Probably not, but I believe they will. And I don't think this is an intentional delay. I think the volume of files is just a little more than a lot of people really realize was out there. Most of the material released yesterday has already been made public. Many names and files have been redacted.

groups that provide tax assistance for immigrants and advocate for them are asking a federal judge in Boston to stop immigration and customs enforcement from using sensitive data is received from the IRS and Social Security Administration. NPR's Jude Jaffe Block reports the Trump administration has been collecting data to aid deportation efforts. Last month, the federal judge in Washington, D.C., found it was likely unlawful when the IRS turned over the addresses of 47,000. thousand non-citizens to ICE in response to a request. Now, a separate lawsuit in Boston Federal Court seeks to stop ICE from using the data it received. It also seeks to block the IRS and Social Security Administration from sharing more. Plaintiffs argue it violates taxpayer confidentiality. Federal records show the Social Security Administration intended to share 50,000 people's records with ICE every month. The federal government has argued the data sharing is lawful.

Jude Jaffe Block, NPR News. Divisions within President Trump's coalition are on display at a gathering of conservatives in Phoenix this week on the opening day of Turning Point USA's annual conference. NPR Sarah McCamon has more. Since Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk's murder in September, the conservative movement has been plagued by infighting over how to respond to anti-Semitism within the movement. At Turning Point's America Fest conference, commentator Ben Shapiro called out fellow conservatives, including including Tucker Carlson, who recently hosted white nationalist Nick Fuentes on his online show. Shapiro said Charlie Kirk had, quote, despised Fuentes. He knew that Nick Fuentes is an evil troll, and that building him up is an act of moral

imbecility. And that is precisely what Tucker Carlson did. He built Nick Fuentes up. And he ought to take responsibility for that. Carlson later hit back, insisting he's not an anti-Semite. Sarah McCammon, NPR News. This is NPR News. Washington. A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly confirms the Coast Guard is in the process of seizing a tanker in international waters off Venezuela. Tensions are mounting between the U.S. and the Venezuelan government of President Nicholas Maduro. The U.S. has built up its largest military presence in the region in decades, and it seized a tanker off Venezuela on

December 10th. President Trump has signed into law a measure that would provide benefits to families of firefighters killed by certain cancers. The Mountain West News Bureau's Murphy Woodhouse has details. The honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act was introduced by Democratic Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, but received substantial bipartisan support. Now signed, it will provide federal line of duty death and disability benefits as well as education support to families of firefighters permanently disabled or killed by a long list of cancers. The one-time death or disability payment is roughly $460,000. It's a significant benefit. But I always caution it's the benefit no firefighter really wants.

Edward Kelly heads the International Association of Firefighters Union, which strongly backed the legislation. In 2023, a World Health Organization body classified the exposures faced in the profession as carcinogenic. For NPR News, I'm Murphy Woodhouse. A blue origin rocket blasted off from West Texas this morning, carrying six passengers for a 10-minute flight. One of them was a paraplegic engineer from Germany, the first wheelchair user in space, Jake Mills, a Blue Origin engineer, says the company wants to make spaceflight more accessible to a wider range of people. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News, in Washington.