NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-21-2024 1AM EST

Episode Date: December 21, 2024

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Support for this podcast and the following message come from Autograph Collection Hotels, with over 300 independent hotels around the world, each exactly like nothing else. Autograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The Senate has passed a short-term spending bill to fund the government through March 14th. NPR's Barbara Sprantz says the deal came after the federal government was set to close

all non-essential operations at midnight. The Senate quickly mobilized after the House approved a funding bill that provides $100 billion in disaster relief and aid to farmers. It does not raise the debt ceiling, despite demands from President-elect Donald Trump. This caps off a chaotic week on Capitol Hill, where a bipartisan agreement was tanked by Trump and his top adviser, billionaire Elon Musk. It sent GOP leadership scrambling to come up with a new proposal, one that would satisfy Trump himself, factions within the Republican conference, and enough Democrats to get the

bill over the finish line. It now goes to President Biden's desk for his signature. Barbara Sprunt and Peer News, the Capital. As the debate grew this week over the government spending deadline, businessman Elon Musk used his social media platform to at times sow chaos into the process. NPR's Stephen Fowler says there's a simple reason why Musk's influence in government operations has grown so dramatically. He has been a big booster both financially and rhetorically to President-elect Trump. I mean Musk also owns a social media site that's become this center of discourse

for those on the right seeking to influence policy. Musk also exists as a sort of persona that transcends partisan labels or ideological purity, kind of in a way that mimics Trump's populism. He's been a constant fixture at Mar-a-Lago where Trump has been planning his transition. That's NPR's Stephen Fowler. On Friday, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services launched a website promoting routine childhood vaccines. As MPR Selena Simmons Duffin reports, the Let's Get Real website is going live as vaccination rates among children are dropping. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine

explains childhood vaccines have all but eliminated many illnesses. For instance, when Levine started residency in the early 1980s, there was no vaccine for an illness called Haemophilous influenza type B, which caused serious infections in children. Pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis. And after the vaccines came out and had been given for a number of years, we really no longer see those infections. In a few weeks, the incoming Trump administration aims to put several prominent anti-vaccine activists in place

at HHS. Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News, Washington. Workers from at least 10 Starbucks stores are on strike this weekend to protest the lack of movement and contract talks that began back in April. The union representing the workers says the strike could spread to hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve. The strike began one day after the Teamsters Union announced strikes at seven Amazon delivery hubs. Starbucks says the walkout has had no significant impact on any of its operations.

You're listening to NPR News. The Department of Education says it's reached an agreement with the University of California system that resolves some complaints of discrimination and harassment during protests last spring. Those complaints came from Jewish and Muslim students and stem from protests over the war in Gaza. The Wisconsin police chief, who is leading a law enforcement response to a recent shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, will be leaving for another job. As Sarah Lear of Wisconsin Public Radio reports, Madison's police chief has accepted a job in Seattle.

It's a job he applied for before the shooting took place. Sean Barnes has been Madison's police chief since 2021. That's included leading the department through a high-profile incident that brought international attention to Wisconsin's capital city. On Monday, a 15-year-old student opened fire at a private school there, fatally shooting two others before killing herself. Seattle's mayor praised how Barnes handled that crisis when he announced Barnes' appointment Friday as that city's next police chief. In recent years, Barnes has applied unsuccessfully to several top cop jobs

in larger cities, including San Jose and Chicago. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Lear in Madison. The AAA Auto Club says it's going to be a busy holiday week on America's roadways and in the air. It predicts that more than 119 million people will be traveling at least 50 miles from home over the next 12 days. Officials say having Christmas in the middle of the week has tempted some people to just take the whole week off and hit the road to see their relatives over the holiday. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.