The Headlines - Putin’s Cease-Fire Demands, and a Democratic Flip on the Shutdown

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

Plus, two astronauts’ long wait for a ride home. On Today’s Episode: In No Hurry for Cease-Fire, Putin Demands Numerous Ukrainian Concessions, by Anton TroianovskiSchumer Will Clear the Way for G.O.P. Spending Bill, Breaking With His Party, by Carl Hulse and Catie EdmondsonTrump Administration Must Rehire Thousands of Fired Workers, Judges Rule, by Zach MontagueTrump Wants to Speed Up Deportations With Alien Enemies Act: What to Know, by Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Hamed Aleaziz and Maggie HabermanStocks Tumble Into Correction as Investors Sour on Trump, by Joe Rennison and Danielle KayeSpaceX Scrubs Launch of Crew-10 Astronauts for NASA to the I.S.S., by Kenneth ChangTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today is Friday, March 14. Here's what we're covering. Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken publicly for the first time about a ceasefire proposal to stop the fighting in Ukraine. Earlier this week, the US said the ball was in Russia's court, after the US and Ukraine worked out a proposal for a 30-day pause.

Yesterday Putin said, quote, The idea itself is the right one, and we definitely support it. But he added, there are questions that we need to discuss. He then set down numerous conditions that seem likely to delay a truce or make it impossible altogether. In one demand, he insisted that Ukraine not mobilize more troops or import more weapons during any ceasefire. That would put Ukraine at a major disadvantage.

And Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyky quickly responded, calling Putin's demands very manipulative. Last night in Congress. I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country to minimize the harms to the American people. to minimize the harms to the American people. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer broke with the Democratic Party and announced he will vote for the Republican-crafted funding bill to keep the government open. Just a day before, Schumer had proclaimed publicly that his party was unified against the bill. Now he's indicated he's gathered

enough support from other Democrats to join with Republicans and pass it. It doesn't address far too many of this country's needs, but I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option. Schumer said he changed his mind because if the government were to shut down, he said Trump and the Republicans would have no incentive to ever reopen it, since they could just selectively fund departments and agencies they designated as essential and leave others to languish permanently. And one other thing on a shutdown. On a shutdown, the courts could close or at least be totally, totally disabled and the courts are one of the best ways

we've had to go after these guys. Schumer went on to defend his reversal in an interview after his speech, though he said he respected his colleagues, who still plan to vote against the bill. The vote's set to take place this afternoon, and if it goes through as expected, it will keep the government funded until September 30th. Now, a few quick updates on the Trump administration. The Times has learned that President Trump is planning to invoke an obscure wartime authority to ramp up deportations. The law, called the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, gives presidents the power to deport or detain

people without a court hearing if they're from countries the U.S. is at war with. Trump appeared to lay the groundwork for his plan by declaring border crossings from Mexico an invasion. The act was last used during World War II. It was the legal basis for setting up Japanese internment camps. In the courts, two judges have ordered the federal government to rehire tens of thousands of people who lost their jobs last month when the administration targeted probationary employees. The workers were all told they'd been fired for poor performance, even if there was no

evidence of that. In two separate cases, the judges ruled that those mass firings were unlawful. One even called the government's performance claims, quote, a sham. The rulings only address one tactic the government has used to justify its cuts. More cuts are in the works. And the stock market tumbled again on Thursday,

as Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs continue to rattle investors. The S&P 500 is now down more than 10 percent from just a month ago. Despite the drop off in the markets, President Trump isn't backing down from his trade fights. Yesterday he found a new target. He threatened the European Union with 200 percent levies on wine and champagne. And finally, for two NASA astronauts who've been on an unexpectedly long mission to space, their ride home is almost ready to pick them up.

Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore were launched up to the International Space Station last June on what was supposed to be about an eight-day trip. But due to technical issues with the spacecraft that was supposed to bring them back, the trip has now lasted more than eight months. Stranded? No. Stuck? No. Abandoned? No. We came prepared for an extended stay because that's what we do in human spaceflight because there are no guarantees. You never know what might happen. In an interview from the space station with my colleague Michael Barbaro, Wilmore said

it's actually been fun up there, but also work. They've been helping keep the station running and performing experiments. They're waiting for the launch of a return vehicle to come get them. That could happen as soon as tonight. You know between you me and everybody listening in in Houston, are you nervous about the return trip? I don't think nervous is the term that I would use. I mean you're cautious about anything. I mean this is this is human spaceflight and we're gonna be inside of a plasma ball at ball at 3000 degrees Fahrenheit as we reenter the atmosphere. But certainly something we're prepared for, the ground teams are prepared for, and it's

quite an exciting ride to be honest with you as well. So we're looking forward to it in that respect. Those are the headlines today on The Daily. How the US-Europe alliance is fracturing and how that could usher in a new world order. That's next in the New York Times audio app or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. The show is made by Will Jarvis, Jessica Metzger, Jan Stewart and me, Tracy Mumford. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, Larissa Anderson, Sarah Diamond, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, and Paula Schuman.

The headlines will be back on Monday.