Up First from NPR - Israel, Hamas Peace Deal Latest; Federal Worker Layoffs; Health Care Subsidies

Episode Date: October 11, 2025

The peace deal between Israel and Hamas is entering its second day - we'll have the latest on how things are going on the ground. Also, As the shutdown rolls on, the Trump administration announces another series of layoffs among federal workers. Plus, look at subsidies for the Affordable Care Act and why they are at the center of the government shutdown. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's day two of the U.S. brokered peace deal between Hamas and Israel. The clock is ticking on the negotiated exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees. I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Aisha Roscoe with Up First from NPR News. Hamas is preparing to release the remaining hostages as Israeli troops withdraw from parts of Gaza. We'll have more on that. Plus, the Trump administration on Friday started laying off thousands. more federal employees as a government shutdown closes out its second week.

We're also going to take a look at the health care subsidies that are about to expire and why they're at the center of the current shutdown. So stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend. This message comes from Rinse. Who knows that mastering the perfect House Party table spread takes time. But so does laundry. So Rinse takes your laundry. So Rinse takes your laundry. and hand delivers it to your door, expertly cleaned. And you can take the time once spent sorting and waiting, folding and queuing to finally pursue your real passion,

rolling delicate roses of capacola alongside meandering ribbons of Amon Serrano, transforming a humble plank of weathered barnwood into a show-stopping charcutory spread. Rinse, it's time to be great. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. When you think about the people you love, it's not the big things you miss the most. It's the details.

What memories will your loved ones cherish when you're gone? At Dignity Memorial, the details aren't just little things. They're everything. They help families create meaningful celebrations of life with professionalism and compassion. To find a provider near you, visit DignityMemorial.com. After two years of fighting, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a peace deal. It's only been in place for a couple of days, and there are still a lot of unknowns. But one of the earlier, more concrete steps, involves the release of Israeli hostages

held since the October 7, 2023 attack, in exchange for roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. And Paris Kerry Kahn joins us now from Tel Aviv. Carrie, thanks for being with us. Good morning. What have you been hearing from Gaza now that Israeli troops have pulled back? We are seeing a massive movement of people coming out. trying to reclaim some of their lives, assessing damage, just taking in the sheer devastation

and destruction of Gaza after two years of war. MPR's reporter, Anas Baba, who is in Gaza City, sent us amazing images and testimonies of this flood of people on foot walking amidst rubble. They're coming from south to north toward Gaza City, which has just been under this punishing, massive offensive by Israel and is in ruins. Baba says for the first time there are no Israeli bombardments or airstrikes and people are out trying to find shelter, clearing rubble. He says they are on the move. It feels like I'm witnessing a place being born again. But Gazans here, they don't wait for permission to live.

They carry hope like oxygen. Gaza is not only rubble. Gaza is resilience. And what I see today is people sacered and stubborn, but writing themselves back into existence. We're now watching for a promise surge of aid through the UN allowed back into Gaza soon. That'll include food, shelters, and vital medical supplies. And meanwhile, Israel waits for the return of 20 living and as many as 28 dead hostages. What is the mood in Israel?

There is celebration. There's hope and cautious optimism, I'd say. I was at the downtown Tel Aviv Public Plaza dubbed hostage Square, where there has been a lot of hugging and adulation for President Trump for personally brokering this deal. I also spent time yesterday with the nursing director of Bellinson Hospital that's in Central Israel. A third of the released hostages will be taken there. I spoke with Dr. Mikhail Steinman and she says everything is ready for them, rooms, medical care, family areas. And she also said this time will be different since these hostages released are the last

ones. They will not be leaving anyone behind, which was very traumatic for those freed in the past. I'm telling them, welcome home. So glad to see you. So glad and you're in good hands. You're in good hands. You came home. We're here. We'll take care of you. She says reintroducing food will be difficult and will be gradual. They will get rehab and all the medical care necessary. What are some of the challenges ahead, Carrie? There are a lot. But I'd say the top two are disarming Hamas and governance of Gaza after the initial hostage and prisoner detainee exchange is over. Trump's plan calls for an international so-called Board of Peace to take over Gaza, which will be run by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. There are a lot

of details about how that will be constituted and run. Late last night, Hamas issued a statement to say they would not accept any quote foreign guardianship and that governing Gaza was a Palestinian matter. Hamas-run civil police force has already been seen on the streets in areas where the Israeli army were through. Yesterday, too, we heard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking tough like he always does, reiterating that Hamas must disarm or face a resumption of military action. Carrie Khan and Tel Aviv, thanks so much. You're welcome. The riffs have begun. That's how. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vote, announced on X that reductions in force are

happening. That means more federal employees will lose their jobs. All of this unfolds as the government shutdown rolls on to tell us more about that as well as what the Hamas Israel peace deal may mean for the Trump administration. NPR senior political contributor Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks for being with us. Good to be with you, Scott. How big an achievement is this ceasefire for President Trump. We are still in the first phase of watching this agreement play out, but even now it's a significant achievement, just getting these parties, Hamas with all its factions, Israel with all its factions, all coming together on an agreement on these terms. So it's an enormously welcome breakthrough. And if it holds up, it would certainly be a highlight of Trump's presidency,

perhaps reminiscent of the way the Camp David Accords were the pinnacle of Jimmy Carter's presidency. But we haven't seen the return of the hostages yet. We still don't know whether that will lead to the next steps in the peace plan or potentially unleash more violence. If Trump and his team can keep Bibianet and Yahoo on board and if he in turn can control his hardliners, this will indeed be a monument to peace and to Trump and his administration and they will deserve a great deal of credit.

Staying with foreign policy for a moment, the president said yesterday he plans an additional 100% tariff on China starting November 1st or sooner, should we take his words as policy or posturing? China announced some new restrictions on the export of rare earths, which are minerals crucial in high-tech manufacturing. Trump erupted with promises of payback. He said he would raise tariffs 100% on everything Chinese. Now perhaps we should be accustomed by now to this kind of threat from Trump, especially to gaudy numbers like 100%. But Wall Street took it seriously, had its worst day in six months with deep losses in the midst of what has been a long-running rally

for stocks. So what happens next? We've seen this thrust in Perry before. Will Chinese President Xi's trip to the U.S. be canceled in which side will do the canceling? And we wait to see how much this disrupts the most important trading relationship in the world, the relationship between the two largest economic powers. The U.S. government shut down, heading into its third week. Layoffs of federal workers have begun when asked by a reporter yesterday. How many layoffs he'd authorized? The president said a lot. And it will be Democrat-oriented because we figure, you know, they started this thing, so they should be Democrat-oriented. It'll be a lot, and we'll announce the numbers over the next couple of days.

But it'll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats. I think he's blaming the Democrats. What more can you tell us? Yes, he continues to blame the Democrats, and he is openly punishing the people in blue states, whether they're Democrats or not. I think we all know at this point that the impasse between lawmakers in Congress has caused federal workers to be furloughed. But fired? Their jobs are just as mandated by legislation as they were before. They have been assured their jobs were protected and they would get back pay.

Now the White House is casting doubt on both. And the cuts are concentrated in some highly sensitive departments such as health and treasury. We've seen the figure of 4,000 already and more. And the aggressiveness of these firings is causing some heartburn among Republicans as well as the targeted Democrats. Republicans have voters who work for the federal government, too, and even more who depend on the government for services and for other things as well. Ron, are we reaching the point where enough people are feeling the effects of the shutdown that we can expect some movement to bring it to an end? People are feeling it, Scott, at airports, in farm country, wherever people do business with the government in any way or depend on it in any way, Republicans had hoped those people would blame the Democrats and put pressure on them.

Some do and some have, but polls show more people are blaming the president and his party. So can there be an end in sight? Yes, when both sides are willing to talk seriously about the coming cuts to health care. Cuts that will hurt people in red states as much as in blue states and very possibly hurt them more. Some of Trump's biggest counties have very high rates of dependence on Medicaid. Republicans say they are willing to talk about health care and its costs after the shutdown ends. But if they have ideas and a willingness to address this issue, people who are suffering are very likely to ask, why can't they talk now? And Pierre Senior Political Contributor Ron Elving. Ron, thanks so much.

Thank you, Scott. Congress can't seem to agree on a spending bill. At the heart of their disagreement are the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which makes access to health care more affordable to millions of Americans. And extending these subsidies is a major sticking point for the Democrats. But who's relying on these subsidies and what will losing them mean? We're joined now by NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin. Hi, Selena.

Hi, Aisha. Okay, so we're talking about Obamacare, or the Affordable. Care Act marketplaces, right? That's the focus. Yeah, exactly. Those are the health insurance marketplaces where 24 million people buy their coverage. And, you know, 24 million is a record for enrollment in these plans. But that's still not a huge slice of the population. It's only about 7%. So why is it such a big political issue if it's not that many people directly affected? Well, you know, one reason is that it's an influential group. You know, people who need to buy insurance like this don't get insurance through their jobs, and they

don't qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, which are the public programs for seniors and low-income people. So often there are, you know, small business owners or employees, their farmers or ranchers, and they really have no alternatives to these marketplaces. They go to health care.gov or their state marketplace and basically find a plan there or bust. A few years ago, the federal government changed the premium subsidy system to make these plans much more affordable for people. And that financial help is what the current political stalemate is about. If Congress does nothing, the subsidies run out at the end of the year. Is that correct? Yeah, exactly. And if they do expire, enrollees are going to face much higher health insurance

premiums next year. The average increase is 114 percent, according to KFF, which is a number. a nonpartisan health research organization. So one interesting fact is that three and four of these enrollees live in states that President Trump won in last year's election. There has been a huge amount of growth in enrollment. Enrollment has tripled in Texas and Louisiana and Mississippi in the last few years. So this is going to hit Republican voters really hard. So what does the public think about these subsidies?

The public really likes them. 78% of the public thinks that Congress should extend this. financial help, including most Trump supporters, that's according to a recent poll by KFF. The basic divide in Congress right now is with Democrats saying the subsidies have to be extended, or it's going to be catastrophic for consumers. Most people don't have an extra $1,000 in their monthly budget, for instance, right? So millions of people are expected to drop coverage and become uninsured. Some Republican lawmakers have expressed worries about these premium hikes, but conservative policy groups are really adamant that Republicans,

need to stand firm. They've always opposed to the Affordable Care Act, and they really don't like the enhanced subsidies. They say there might be concerns about short-term premium increases, but long-term, it's going to be too expensive for the government. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it'll cost the government $350 billion over the next decade if the enhanced subsidies were to be extended permanently. Are there any signs of a solution to get the government back open? At this point, no. There are some efforts for for a bipartisan compromise, but there aren't serious formal talks between the parties that could lead to a breakthrough in the near future. And there is a timing crunch here on the health insurance side.

Open enrollment begins in Idaho next week. It opens everywhere else November 1st. And as people go in and start shopping for a plan, many of them are going to see these eye-popping premiums. So even if they haven't been following the political debate, the issue is going to get very real for them when they start to see those numbers. That's NPR's health policy correspondent, Selena Simmons-Duffin. Thank you so much. You're welcome. And that's up first. For Saturday, October 11th, 2025, I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Aisha Roscoe. Dave Mistich produced today's podcast with assistance from Ryan Bank and Elena Quorick. Our editor has been Deep Parvaz, along with Melissa Gray, Diane Weber, and Miguel Mossius, Andy Craig, directed. Technical director was David Greenberg, with engineering support from Zo Van Genhoven,

Nisha Highness, and Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Our senior supervising editor is Shannon Rhodes. E.B. Stone is our executive producer and our deputy managing editor is Jim Kane. Tomorrow on the Sunday story, a look at how immigration and customs enforcement or ICE is changing under the Trump administration. And you know, we have so much more on the radio, so please find your local station. at stations.npr.org. Don't waste a minute. Not at all.

Run fast. Real fast. They probably just have to like flick something on their iPhone. Yeah, they just got to press it. Move your fingers really fast. Yeah, move your fingers fast now. Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Up First sponsor-free through Amazon music.

Or you can also support NPR. vital journalism and get upfirst plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org. Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Anna Gonzalez, through this complicated country. We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature. Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.