NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-22-2025 7PM EST

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiyvone. A federal judge has ruled that migrants who were deported in March to a Salvador and detention center were not given due process. He's ordered the U.S. government facilitate their return. NPR's Jasmine Garst reports. In March of this year, migrants who were being held in a detention center in Texas were sent to Seacot, a notorious prison in El Salvador. In order to send them, the Trump administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. a rarely used wartime power. They were accused without evidence of being members of Venezuelan gang Trennerawa.

A federal judge has now ordered the government facilitate six of these men's ability to obtain a hearing, writing, quote, our law requires no less. He also certified the group as a class, so the case brought by the six men could represent all of those who were removed on March 15th. He gave the administration until January 5th to comply. Jasmine Garst and PR News. More than a dozen staff members at the Heritage Foundation have left the influential conservative group. They're joining a think tank founded by President Trump's first vice president, Mike Pence.

And PR Sarah McCammon has details. The Heritage Foundation has recently had to grapple with the boundaries of the conservative movement and the role of right-wing influencers who promote anti-Semitism and other extremist ideas. Advancing American Freedom, a group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, says it's hired more than a dozen former heritage staffers, including leaders of the group's legal, economic, and data teams. In a statement, Pence says they bring a, quote, deep commitment to the Constitution and conservative movement. Heritage, meanwhile, issued a statement accusing some of the staff members who left of disloyalty. A task force focused on fighting anti-Semitism recently cut ties with Heritage over related concerns.

Sarah McCammon, NPR News. Concerns about wintry weather have led holiday travelers to get off to an early start in the Midwest and the east, snow, and some wintry mixed are hidden the forecast. Aisha Diaz, AAA spokesperson, says the roads will be crowded between now and New Year's. We only look at domestic travel when we're talking about the forecast, and more than 122 million Americans traveling is going to set a new record. We keep building on previous records over the holidays. Another atmospheric river is leaving torrential rain in the west. In Northern California, there have been water rescues amid flooded roads. The National Weather Service is also forecasting heavy mountain snow in the Sierra Nevada.

Forecasters say snow and mixed wintry precipitation are likely across the northern and Atlantic into New England, with the heaviest snow likely to be across Maine. On Wall Street today, the Dow closed up 227 points. The NASDAQ gained 121, the S&P 500 closed up 43 points. This is NPR News in Washington. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the Wagovi pill, a drug designed to assist in weight loss and the maintenance of lower weight. Novo Nordisk says the pill is the first oral GLP1 therapy approved by federal regulators for weight management. An activist group says it has scraped millions of music files and data from spills.

Spotify, the world's largest streaming service, the group plans to release the files online, NPR's Isabella Gomez Samiento has more. The open source engine Anna's archive says it extracted metadata for 256 million tracks from Spotify, all of which is now available online. Metadata typically includes information like a song's artist, title, genre producers, and other identifying information. The activist group also said it scraped 86 million. in music audio files, which it plans to release at a future date. The group says its goal is to create

the largest publicly available music archive. In a statement to NPR, Spotify says the company has identified and disabled the accounts engaged in unlawful scraping, and that it is implementing safeguards to prevent piracy and copyright infringement. Isabella Gomez-Tarmiento, NPR News. The oldest working National Park Service Ranger has died. Betty Reed, Suskin, was 104, late in life age 85. She was hired as an interpretive ranger at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park. In Richmond, California, she helped shape creation of the site to honor the millions of Americans who worked in defense. I'm Louise Skiavone and PR News, 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.