NPR News: 07-21-2026 3PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
Why is the federal government withholding Medicaid funds from California and Minnesota?
The Trump administration says it's again withholding Medicaid funding in California and Minnesota over suspected fraud. Medicaid is provided to low-income households and individuals with disabilities. The affected states are led by Democratic governors. The federal government says the states need to prove the money is being used legitimately. Until then, it will hold back $867 million from California and nearly $200 million from Minnesota.
How much funding is being held back and who is affected by the Medicaid freeze?
The health policy organization KFF says more than 14 million children and adults are enrolled in California Medicaid. An additional 1 million plus are enrolled in Minnesota. This hour, members of Congress are weighing a nearly $90 billion budget request, the bulk of which would go to the U.S. war with Iran. They're hearing from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. His testimony comes on the heels of new U.S. military fatalities since Friday. At least 17 American service members have been killed since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in late February. Faced with the prospects of new hefty tariffs from Washington, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had a phone conversation with President Trump this morning.
Dan Karpinchuk reports after the call, Carney said he and Trump agreed to intensify trade talks.
Trump says the latest 50% tariffs against Canada are in response to unfair Canadian trade practices, which include most provinces banning American liquor. But Carney says those tariffs violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. As far as the bans on American booze, Carney says that's up to individual provincial premiers.
As for the latest tariffs that are supposed to take effect in 30 days... I spoke with President Trump earlier this morning. We agreed to intensify negotiations in the coming weeks.
Carney also said the main goal of his government is to control what can be controlled, Canadians supporting each other, buying Canadian, and diversifying trade partnerships abroad. Carney is to speak to a gathering of premiers on Wednesday. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpinchuck in Toronto.
On his first full day in office, the United Kingdom's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, convened a new cabinet. More from NPR's Lauren Frayer.
John Healy was defense minister under Prime Minister Burnham's predecessor, Keir Starmer, but he quit over what he saw as insufficient military spending. Now he'll be chancellor, the equivalent of treasury secretary, in charge of finding that funding. Starmer's energy secretary, Ed Miliband, is now foreign secretary.
In their first meeting, Burnham told them they need to be a, quote, cost-of-living government and give the British people... ...that little extra sense that help is coming so that they can have that bit of hope.
One of Burnham's first acts in office was to scrap tax on household electricity bills. Some opposition parties say the tax cut doesn't go far enough. Others question how it'll be funded.
That's Lauren Frayer reporting. It's NPR. The Trump administration wants to make it easier for men to get testosterone replacement therapy. Last week, the military announced it would screen service members for low testosterone. NPR's Will Stone reports the Food and Drug Administration is considering other changes that could expand access to the drugs.
The FDA criteria for who should get testosterone replacement therapy are fairly narrow. The drug instructions or label state it's only for men with clear-cut medical conditions and not for age-related declines in testosterone. Doctors are free to prescribe approved medicine as they see fit, though, and as a result, many prescriptions in the U.S. are technically considered off-label. But the administration is making changes to encourage prescribing and asking drug makers to seek approval for new conditions. Shalin Shah is CEO of Marius Pharmaceuticals, which makes testosterone products.
This is basically catching up, honestly, to a lot of what's already done in the clinical world.
But some experts argue there is not yet enough long-term data on safety and benefits to justify loosening restrictions.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:06
2
Why is the federal government withholding Medicaid funds from California and Minnesota?
0:06–0:35
3
How much funding is being held back and who is affected by the Medicaid freeze?
0:35–4:08
4
What is Congress hearing about the $90 billion wartime budget request and military fatalities?
4:08–5:04