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Chapter 1: What is the current status of the federal government shutdown?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. The federal government is partially shut down again. This as Democrats press for policy changes to put more checks on federal immigration officers after the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis this month. NPR's Sam Gringless reports.
The shutdown for most of the government could be brief if the House signs off Monday on a deal endorsed by President Trump to fully fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for about two weeks. That's so lawmakers can try to negotiate reforms like requiring officers to wear body cameras and remove masks. This is Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz.
People are seeing with their own eyes what is happening on the streets of Minneapolis and in many other places across the country. It has to stop. And if it doesn't stop, we do not intend to provide our votes.
Some Republicans are open to changes, but others see the two deadly shootings as anomalies. Sam Greenglass, NPR News, Washington.
A federal judge has ordered the government to release a father and his five-year-old son who were taken into custody during the crackdown on immigration in a Minneapolis suburb earlier this month. Judge Fred Beery condemned what he called a perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty.
The federal agency in charge of Medicare announced this week that it plans to hold rates flat in Medicare Advantage next year. As NPR's Selina Simmons-Duffin reports, the private companies that run it have been accused of overcharging taxpayers.
Americans over age 65 are pretty evenly split. About half get their health insurance directly from the federal government, traditional Medicare. The other half buy private health insurance plans known as Medicare Advantage.
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Chapter 2: What reforms are being proposed for federal immigration officers?
Companies often advertise to younger, healthier Medicare patients and attract them with perks and extra benefits. Those plans also cost the government more per patient. For years, Republicans have touted this privatized version of Medicare, but the Trump administration's tone has turned more critical this term.
The flat funding notice from the government sent the stocks of health insurance companies tumbling downward. Selina Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.
In the eastern part of the United States, over 200 million people are under cold weather advisories and winter storm warnings this weekend. Appalachian states, the Carolinas, and even Georgia are bracing for up to a foot of snow. And in the eastern part of the U.S., in general, temperatures are unusually frigid.
South Carolina Public Radio's Victoria Hansen reports from Charleston that clearing the roads is likely to take a while.
Yes, this is the South. There aren't exactly a lot of snowplows around here. But the other problem is wind gusts, which could be quite strong and record cold, I should point out at least for here, in the teens this weekend, with feels like temperatures for us in the single digits.
South Carolina Public Radio's Victoria Hansen. This is NPR News. There's a new American charge d'affaires in Venezuela. Laura Dogu has arrived in Caracas to reopen the American diplomatic mission. After a seven-year lull, this follows the U.S. military action that resulted in the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Dogu previously was the U.S. ambassador in Nicaragua and in Honduras.
American audiences spent 45 billion minutes watching the kids' show Bluey last year. That number is from new Nielsen data about our viewing habits in 2025, and PR's Netta Ulaby has more.
Bluey is an animated show from Australia about a cute talking dog, her family and her friends, and the occasional talking parrot.
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