NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Tensions are growing between Congress and the Justice Department over the release of documents tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The DOJ missed a deadline last Friday to release all of the files, instead posting them in batches over the past week. Now, Democratic Congressman Rokana says lawmakers are prepared to escalate the pressure. We would give the Attorney General a 30-day grace. period to continue to release documents to be in compliance. And after those 30 days, there would

start to be a $5,000 fine on her personally for the documents that she is not releasing. We also plan to go to the Southern District of New York asking the judge who ordered these releases to have a special master, see what should be redacted or not. Lawmakers are now considering those options as they weigh how to hold the Justice Department accountable for the delayed release. New developments in a court battle between the government and housing providers. The case could force the Trump administration to fund permanent housing programs for the homeless for another year. Kelly Kenoyer, a member station WHQR, reports.

The case involves more than $3 billion in grant funding that helps house 170,000 disabled, elderly, and vulnerable Americans. The administration wants to take that grant funding and move it to transitional programs with expiration dates. But now a federal judge has ordered the Department of Housing and Urban Development to maintain the status quo for renewing programs with its upcoming grant cycle. HUD still has the option to appeal to the Supreme Court. For NPR News, I'm Kelly Kanoir. Senior Libyan military officers, including the chief of staff,

and a general who led ground forces, died in a plane crash south of Ankara. NPR's Aia Betrawi reports, officials in Turkey say all seven people on board were killed. The Tripoli-based Libyan government says the military's chief of staff, Lieutenant General Muhammad al-Haded, as well as two other top generals, an advisor, and a military photographer were killed in the plane crash. They'd been in Turkey for defense talks. Libya has two rival governments with Turkey backing the government based in Tripoli. Turkey's interior minister says the private plane took off for Tripoli from Ankara just after 8 p.m. Local time Tuesday. Turkish officials wrote on X the plane had requested an emergency landing after electrical

fault and that contact was lost around 40 minutes after takeoff. The Turkish interior minister says the plane's black box and cockpit voice recorder were recovered Wednesday with an investigation ongoing alongside Libyan authorities. Aya but Trawi, NPR News, Dubai. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining at historically healthy levels. The Labor Department says new jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 214,000 for the week ending December 20th. This is NPR News. A jury has ordered Johnson and Johnson and its subsidiaries to pay $1.5 billion to a Baltimore woman after finding the company liable for exposing her to asbestos through baby powder. Scott Massione from MEPR reports it's the largest win for a single person in a talc-related case.

The Baltimore Circuit Court jury found that the company knew that its baby powder products caused mezzo, thialioma and incurable form of cancer. Jessica Dean, an attorney on the case, says Johnson and Johnson consistently lied about the safety of the product. The willingness to sacrifice future people's health protect their pocketbook when they have unreal resources. It's gross. The company says it will appeal the $1.5 billion verdict. About 67,000 people are suing Johnson and Johnson over cancer diagnoses. The company moved from talc to cornstarch-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020. For NPR News, I'm Scott Masseoni in Baltimore. A coalition of 19 states and Washington, D.C. is suing the Department of Health and Human Services over a declaration that could restrict access

to gender-affirming care for minors. The declaration calls treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy unsafe and ineffective for young people experiencing gender dysmorphia. It also warned doctors they could lose. access to federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid if they provide that type of care. Stocks are trading mixed on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow up 105 points, the NASDAQ down six. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.