NPR News: 09-05-2025 7PM EDT
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Why is President Trump proposing to rename the Department of Defense back to the Department of War?
Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump has signed an executive order rebranding the Department of Defense. And Pierce Quill Lawrence reports Trump will ask Congress to approve renaming the department renaming it to the Department of War.
Last month, President Trump floated returning the department to its name before World War Two when the US Army was led by the Department of War. Now, speaking of the White House, Trump said that name sounds better. And he suggested the US would have fared better in the wars since if the name hadn't changed. We could have won every war, but we We really chose to be a very Politically correct or wokey. By law, Congress would need to change the name, but Trump said he isn't sure that's necessary. Trump also issued a warning after Venezuelan military planes flew close to US warships off the Venezuelan coast. Trump told his top general if it happens again to essentially fire at will.
What happened during the large immigration raid at Hyundai’s electric‑vehicle plant in Georgia?
Quill Lawrence NPR News.
US immigration officials say nearly five hundred people were detained during an immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles. Stephen Schrank, special agent in charge of investigations for homeland security, says the majority of those arrested are South Koreans.
This operation underscores our commitment to protecting jobs for Georgians and Americans, ensuring a level playing field for businesses that comply with the law.
No charges were immediately announced. Homeland Security officials say the months long investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the site was the largest single site enforcement operation in the agency's two decade history. It comes following months of strained relations between the US and South Korea over tariffs and investigations. It's been more than three weeks since President Trump federalized the Washington DC police and put National Guard troops on the city streets to crack down on crime.
How has the federalization of Washington DC police affected arrests and court cases?
An NPR analysis of court documents and other data shows a nuanced view of who's being swept up in the federal surge and what charges they're facing. NPR's Ryan Lucas has more.
NPR examined court records, arrest records, and other data for the first two weeks of Trump's takeover, excluding immigration related cases. All but a handful of the nearly one thousand one hundred people arrested ended up in DC Superior Court. Of those, around twenty percent of defendants were charged with felonies, which are more serious offenses, the rest, some eighty percent, were a mix of misdemeanors, warrants, or traffic offenses, or prosecutors decided to drop the case. Attorneys who work in the courthouse say they are swamped, and that the surge in arrests has on some days kept the courtroom where defendants are arraigned open past one in the morning. Ryan Lucas NPR News, Washington.
Wall Street Lower by the closing bell, you're listening to NPR News from Washington.
Why are EPA employees facing disciplinary action after signing a dissent letter?
EPA employees who were placed on paid administrative leave two months ago for signing a letter of dissent received notices of proposed disciplinary action this week. As Craig Lamalt of Member Station GBH reports, the letter criticized the agency's leadership for deregulation efforts and for disregarding scientific expertise.
According to their union, over a hundred EPA employees who signed the letter were informed of a proposed two-week unpaid suspension, and about fifteen were told they're being fired. The letters said their conduct was unbecoming of a federal employee. Lily Simmons is president of the union representing employees at EPA's Boston office.
I would not say signing a petition is unbecoming of any American citizen and certainly not a federal employee. Signing a petition is part of our First Amendment rule.
Right. And she says they were standing up for public health and the environment. In a written statement, an EPA spokesperson cited a zero tolerance policy for staffers using their position to quote, unlawfully undermine, sabotage, and undercut the will of the American public.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why is President Trump proposing to rename the Department of Defense back to the Department of War?
0:01–0:54
2
What happened during the large immigration raid at Hyundai’s electric‑vehicle plant in Georgia?
0:54–2:00
3
How has the federalization of Washington DC police affected arrests and court cases?
2:00–3:02
4
Why are EPA employees facing disciplinary action after signing a dissent letter?
3:02–4:06
5
What are the details of the EU’s $3.5 billion antitrust fine against Google?
4:06–4:38