NPR News: 07-16-2025 3PM EDT
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Is President Trump planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump is again addressing questions over whether he's considering firing the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell. Trump has been publicly frustrated with Powell for months because he wants the Fed share to lower interest rates. But as NPSD Pashevron reports, he's saying mixed things on whether he will actually fire the Fed chair.
Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he's not planning on firing Powell.
He's a terrible he's a terrible Fed chair. I was surprised he was appointed. I was surprised, frankly, that Uh Biden put him in and extended him. But uh they did so uh no we're not planning on doing anything
Trump originally appointed Powell to the position.
Will new evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s client list be released?
When asked if he's ruled out firing him, Trump said he hasn't ruled anything out, but it would be highly unlikely unless there was a case of fraud. Trump also said that he floated the idea of firing Powell to some Republican lawmakers and received support from them. A senior White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity tells NPR that Trump indicated to lawmakers that he will fire Powell soon. Deepa Shivrom NPR News.
At the White House today, Trump also pushed back against many of his own supporters, convinced there's a client list connected. To the nefarious dealings of the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department said last week there's no client list and that no additional documents from the investigation into Epstein's twenty nineteen death in a federal jail cell would be made public. The US Senate's debating legislation to take back nine point four billion dollars that Congress had approved for international aid and the corporation for public broadcasting. This week some federal workers at the Department of Health and Human Services were notified they had been fired.
And Pierre Selena Simmons Stefan reports they're part of the reduction in force that began in April but had been paused by the courts.
Why were hundreds of Health and Human Services employees suddenly terminated?
The email from HHS Human Resources explained that the Supreme Court had cleared the way for HHS to move forward with its reduction in force and said recipients were officially separated at close of business that day. Anthony Lee works at the Food and Drug Administration and is president of Chapter two hundred eighty-two of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents thousands of FDA employees.
Getting inundated with a lot of questions about what does this mean? Can can the agency do this?
He says employees weren't told anything about their severance or benefits like health insurance.
So they are really left in the dark.
HHS confirmed to NPR that employees were terminated this week, but declined to provide the number. Selena Simmons Duffin, NPR News.
Russia's behind another large scale attack on Ukraine, despite urgent US calls for a ceasefire. Crane's air forces, four hundred Russian drones and a ballistic missile hit several cities overnight.
How is Russia’s latest large‑scale attack affecting the Ukraine conflict?
At least fifteen people were wounded. From Washington, this is NPR News. Israel has conducted airstrikes on targets in downtown Damascus. On ex Israeli defense minister Israel Katz posted a video of a TV news live shot in Damascus in which a building is seen exploding behind the presenter. The strikes follow ongoing tensions in southwest Syria, home to the minority Druze, whose community straddles the border between Israel occupied Golan Heights and Syria. Authorities say the man suspected of killing a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband likely acted alone. Matt Sepik of Minnesota Public Radio reports a suspect was indicted by federal grand jury Tuesday.
Fifty seven year old Vance Belter is charged with the murder of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and with shooting and wounding Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. Both have since left the hospital. Acting U.S.
What are the details behind the indictment of the suspect in the Minnesota lawmaker murders?
Attorney Joe Thompson says Belter left a handwritten letter in his car in which he says Governor Tim Wals wanted him to kill Minnesota's Democratic U.S.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Is President Trump planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell?
0:01–0:48
2
Will new evidence about Jeffrey Epstein’s client list be released?
0:48–1:55
3
Why were hundreds of Health and Human Services employees suddenly terminated?
1:55–2:53
4
How is Russia’s latest large‑scale attack affecting the Ukraine conflict?
2:53–3:56
5
What are the details behind the indictment of the suspect in the Minnesota lawmaker murders?
3:56–4:37