NPR News: 09-30-2025 2PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theschmidt.org.
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held.
What latest federal funding dispute could trigger a government shutdown tonight?
The first federal shutdown in seven years looks to be likely at midnight tonight, says President Trump. Services could be delayed. Most federal workers would not get paid. Trump says some could be fired. Republicans want a stopgap bill to keep government funded for another few weeks to negotiate spending. Democrats refuse to back that and want to force Republicans to negotiate now on federal health care subsidies.
How are Republicans and Democrats clashing over health care subsidy negotiations?
due to expire this year. Today, Trump announced a deal with Pfizer he says would lower prices on its prescription drugs for Medicaid programs in the U.S. so that they're more in line with the prices paid by other developed countries.
Today, Pfizer is committing to offer all of their prescription medications to Medicaid and it will be at the most favored nation's prices. It's going to have a huge impact on bringing Medicaid costs down.
The president says a new federal website will sell prescription drugs to consumers with Pfizer drugs 50 percent lower on average. But details were scarce on how this all would work. Paid leave ends today for some of the federal workers who accepted the administration's fork-in-the-road buyout offer. NPR's Andrea Xu has this report.
Between January and April, roughly 150,000 federal employees agreed to resign from their jobs in exchange for pay and benefits through at least September. A number of them told NPR they did not want to quit their jobs, but did so out of fear that they would be laid off or forced to relocate if they stayed.
What does the announced Pfizer deal claim to change about Medicaid drug prices?
While some of them have found new jobs right away, others are struggling to even land interviews. In the Washington, D.C. area, the market is flooded with former federal employees, and the situation could soon get worse if there's a government shutdown. The White House says a funding lapse could be an opportunity to further slash roles that don't align with the president's priorities. Andrea Hsu, NPR News.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are in agreement on a ceasefire proposal to end the war in Gaza. But as NPR's Emily Fang reports, far-right politicians in Netanyahu's own coalition are not happy.
A person briefed by an Israeli official has told NPR Netanyahu will not bring Trump's plan for a vote in his cabinet. This is to prevent two far-right ministers from quitting their posts and Netanyahu's political coalition, and thus toppling the current government. These two ministers, Bitzel Osmotrich and Itamar Ben-Gavir, are in opposition to the 20-point peace plan because it encourages some 2 million Palestinians to remain in the Gaza Strip following any ceasefire and the return of hostages. The two opposing ministers had been pushing to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, annex the territory, and let Israeli settlers move back in. Emily Fang, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
This is NPR News. A second person shot in an attack on a Dallas immigration field office last Wednesday has died, according to a family statement shared by the League of United Latin American Citizens. Miguel Angel Garcia Hernandez of Mexico was one of three ICE detainees shot. He was 32 and had lived in the U.S. for decades without legal status. The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities say. YouTube has agreed to pay $24 million to settle a lawsuit Trump brought in 2021. NPR's Bobby Allen reports several social media sites had banned Trump after the January 6th insurrection.
The settlement documents say most of the money Google is paying will go toward the construction of a Mar-a-Lago-style ballroom in the White House. YouTube's payout follows similar settlements over Trump's suspensions from Instagram, Facebook, and ex-formally Twitter. Free speech experts question the suits, since First Amendment cases tend to involve government censoring speech, not private companies.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:19
2
What latest federal funding dispute could trigger a government shutdown tonight?
0:19–0:41
3
How are Republicans and Democrats clashing over health care subsidy negotiations?
0:41–1:49
4
What does the announced Pfizer deal claim to change about Medicaid drug prices?
1:49–4:54