NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 12PM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua Lisei Kautau. On a Friday in September, an immigration and customs enforcement officer was put on leave after pushing a woman to the ground while on duty at a New York immigration court. By the end of the weekend, he was back on the job. As NPR's Jimenez-Bustia reports, New York Democrat, Dan Goldman, has been seeking information on how the officer was investigated. In a letter shared exclusively with NPR, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem tells New York Representative Dan Goldman that the agency's inspector general decided two months later not to open a criminal investigation. It's not clear if there is an administrative investigation. It continues to not be immediately clear also why the officer was able to return to work so quickly. The incident circulated online and prompted the DHS to place him on administrative leave, a rare instance of such a leave being publicly announced.

In a statement at the time, DHS spokesperson and Tritian McLaughlin said the behavior was beneath the men and women of ICE. Since DHS has not responded to questions about its own policies and procedures for investigating employee misconduct. Hima Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. The Justice Department says multiple documents its release related to the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are fake. NPR Sarah McCammon reports the department is required to release the files under a law recently passed by Congress. The DOJ missed a deadline to produce the files on Friday when officials published just a portion of them. More documents have been trickling out in recent days. The latest batch includes multiple references to President Trump.

He's mentioned in a letter purportedly from Jeffrey Epstein to another convicted sex offender, former Olympic doctor, Larry Nassar. In posts on X, the Justice Department says that although it was released by them, that letter is fake. The post highlights several apparent inconsistencies. In another post, a DOJ official says the department is required under law to release the documents in its possession, but cautions that many involve, quote, sensational tales and lies by random people. The files include letters, flight logs, and other documents accumulated by the Justice Department over many years. Sarah McCammon, NPR News. A delayed report from the Commerce Department on GDP, the gross domestic product, shows the U.S. economy grew faster than economists had predicted.

And Piers Alina Selyuk says wages are still growing as are prices. Even though inflation has cooled, wages and prices have sort of met in the middle, with new government data showing that personal disposable income after inflation and taxes was stagnant mid-year, not growing much. And then on future earnings, the latest jobs report from November-sized softening market, which has many people worried about getting a new job if they lose the one they have. She adds, for many people, things are turning for the better, but not for everyone. You're listening to NPR News from New York. The Trump administration has said it wants to align the childhood vaccination schedule

with best practices in peer nations like Denmark. NPR's Maria Godoy reports some critics say the plan won't work. Denmark routinely vaccinates all kids against just 10 diseases. In the U.S., it's 16 diseases. Dr. Sean O'Leary with the American Academy of Pediatrics says the two countries are very different. It's like comparing a cruise ship to a kayak. I mean, for example, Denmark is the size of roughly Wisconsin. Denmark also has free universal health care.

Families get about a year of paid parental leave so they can stay home with their babies, so they potentially aren't exposed to as many diseases. And if a child gets hospitalized, their health system absorbs that cost. Meanwhile, in the U.S., many people struggle with access to health care and paid leave. Maria Godoy and PR News. Thousands of people are visiting Manger Square in the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank today. For the first time since two years of war, there's a Christmas market, a massive Christmas tree lit with bright white lights, and a Christmas parade that ended just a few hours ago, filling the air with drums, bagpipes, and laughter.

The Church of Nativity will hold midnight mass. All of this, just an hour away from Gaza, where the Ministry of Health says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire was agreed to by Israel and Hamas. I'm Doa Ali Saikautau, NPR News, in New York City.