NPR News: 10-03-2025 3AM 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 Shea Stevens.
What is the latest on the federal government shutdown and proposed workforce cuts?
President Trump says he's meeting with his budget director, Russ Vogt, during the shutdown to discuss ways to reshape the federal workforce and slash more spending. Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt says the White House is trying to determine which agencies to cut.
We're going to look at agencies that don't align with the administration's values, that we feel are a waste of the taxpayer dollar. And look, unfortunately, these conversations are happening because we don't have any money coming into the federal government right now.
What is the White House saying about which agencies could be targeted for cuts?
Leavitt says thousands of federal workers could be laid off as soon as today. Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the shutdown. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats are not budging on their demand for an extension of expiring tax credits for health care.
Of course we're not losing that messaging battle, and the reason why we know we're not won, they're lying, and they're lying because they're losing.
Why are Democrats and Republicans blaming each other over expiring health care tax credits?
There's nothing that Democrats have suggested in any way, shape, or form that is designed to provide health care to undocumented immigrants.
Jeffrey says the Democrats have not heard from the White House since the shutdown began. The Energy Department is canceling billions of dollars in funding for hundreds of projects the agency says did not adequately advance the nation's needs. The cuts target nearly $8 billion in grants supporting hundreds of projects. in 16 mostly blue states. They affect battery plants, hydrotechnology projects, power grid improvements, and other efforts. The Energy Department says a quarter of those projects were approved in the final days of the Biden administration.
Which Energy Department grants were canceled and what projects are affected?
Federal health officials have approved another generic version of the abortion pill, mifepristone. The move has outraged activists who are seeking a safety review of the drug. The group Students for Life calls another approval of a version of mifepristone a stain. on the Trump administration. A spokesperson for the FDA says the agency has limited say in the approval of generic drugs. More than 200 Ukrainians have returned home as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia. NPR's Hanna Panamarenko has details.
In a video published by the State Border Service, the freed prisoners of war hug their relatives and make phone calls. A man wrapped in the Ukrainian flag tells his family by phone that he has returned from captivity.
What recent developments surround approval and controversy over a generic mifepristone?
I am back in my native Ukraine, he exclaims. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that almost all of the freed Ukrainian military and civilians had been held captive in Russia since 2022. Some of them were exchanged in accordance with the agreements in Istanbul and some as part of the 69th Exchange. Hanna Palomarenko, NPR News, Kyiv.
U.S. futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR.
What are the key international and immigration stories including prisoner exchanges, deportation cases, and chip manufacturing disputes?
An Atlanta journalist who's covered the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants is facing deportation to El Salvador. Mario Guevara was detained following his arrest during an anti-Trump protest in June. Guevara applied for asylum in 2005 but was denied and has exhausted his appeals. Meanwhile, the Maryland man, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and returned to the U.S. under court order, has been denied asylum. Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego-Garcia say they plan to appeal. President Trump says drug cartels are unlawful combatants and the U.S. is in armed conflict with them. The message follows three deadly U.S. strikes in the Caribbean targeting boats the administration says were hauling illegal drugs.
The U.S. recently dispatched eight warships and thousands of troops to the Caribbean. Trade officials are rejecting President Trump's proposal to move 50 percent of all chip manufacturing to the United States.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:20
2
What is the latest on the federal government shutdown and proposed workforce cuts?
0:20–0:47
3
What is the White House saying about which agencies could be targeted for cuts?
0:47–1:11
4
Why are Democrats and Republicans blaming each other over expiring health care tax credits?
1:11–1:51
5
Which Energy Department grants were canceled and what projects are affected?
1:51–2:41
6
What recent developments surround approval and controversy over a generic mifepristone?
2:41–3:15
7
What are the key international and immigration stories including prisoner exchanges, deportation cases, and chip manufacturing disputes?
3:15–4:53