NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-31-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: December 31, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. The Trump administration has frozen child care funding to Minnesota amid fraud allegations. Minnesota Public Radio's claim Masters has the story. The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jim O'Neill, made the announcement on the social media platform X. He writes, the step is in response to allegations of blatant fraud in Minnesota, and his agency has, quote, turned off the money spigot and are finding the fraud. fraud. The announcement follows a viral video from a right-wing YouTuber that featured Minnesota daycare facilities that have been part of a state-administered child care program using federal money. Some of the centers recently had operations or payments suspended. In a statement,

Democratic Governor Tim Walz tells NPR he has been combating fraud for years, and this is a, quote, transparent attempt to politicize the issue to hurt Minnesotans and defund government programs that help people. For NPR news, I'm Claymasters in St. Paul. A federal judge has halted efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. NPR Stevens-Bassah has the story. CFPB gets its funding from the Federal Reserve. The Trump administration argues that since the Fed has been operating at a loss, there is not the money to keep the financial watchdog running.

But Judge Amy Berman-Jackson rejected that argument. She already has a preliminary injunction preventing the White House from shutting down the CFPB, and she wrote in her ruling that this is an unabashed attempt to just do that in a different way. Other legal battles have prevented several mass layoffs there, but President Trump has been clear he wants the CFPB gone. Acting Director Russell Vote has stopped most of the Consumer-oriented Bureau's work, and Judge Berman Jackson wrote that the CFPB is hanging by a thread. Stephen Besaha, NPR News. A recent U.S. attack on a Venezuelan port facility was carried out by the CIA and not the Pentagon. That's according to an administration official not authorized to speak on the matter.

The drone strike was among 30 U.S. attacks carried out since September. Taiwan remains on high alert following China's second day of large-scale military drills around the island. NPR Se Wung-Gong reports from Seoul. Taiwan's Defense Ministry said more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nearly two dozen vessels have been detected around the island since the drills began Monday. There were also live-fire exercises and rocket launches. Taiwan's president, Li Qingda, expressed his, quote, strongest condemnation and vowed to defend the sovereignty of the island. China's worry minister, Wang Yi, criticized the U.S. arms sales and said China must

strongly counter them. He also criticized Japan, whose leader has signaled possible military intervention over Taiwan. President Trump said to report this Monday that he is not worried about the drills, saying he doesn't believe China would invade Taiwan. Seung-Gong-NPR News, Seoul. U.S. futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. U.S. immigration officials say they will stop trying to prosecute a wrongfully deported Maryland man if a court order banning his removal remains in place. Kilmar Obrego-Garcia was initially accused of being a gang member and sent to El Salvador. He was returned to the U.S. under court

order, then detained and charged with another crime. A newly unsealed court filing shows that Justice Department officials made prosecuting Abrago Garcia a top priority once he challenged his deportation. Former U.S. Senator Ben Knight Horse Campbell has died. Colorado Public Radio's Alejandra Alonzel Galva has this remembrance. Former Senator Knight Horse Campbell started out representing the state as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party several years into his term. During his nearly two decades in Congress and both the House and Senate, Nighthorse Campbell helped create national parks and championed Native American issues. He was also a chief of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, a celebrated jewelry designer, and a member

of the first U.S. Olympic judo team. In 2012, Nighthorse Campbell ushered the Christmas tree for the U.S. Capitol. Ever since I was a teenager, I got through college by driving a semi, and the only difference with this is it's so long, but they, you know, police go with you. There's police escorts, and I tell people it's kind of fun having red lights and fireings in front of you than chasing you. Ben Knight Horse Campbell was 92 years old. For NPR News, I'm Alejandro Alonso Galva in Denver.

Again, U.S. futures are flat, and after hours trading on Wall Street, on Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mostly lower. This is NPR News.