NPR News: 10-11-2025 10AM EDT
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder. President Trump is blaming Democrats for layoffs amid the ongoing government shutdown, saying they started this thing and called the job cuts Democrat-oriented. In court filings and a lawsuit by labor unions, the White House said more than 4,000 federal employees have received layoff notices. Democrats say they won't cave to pressure tactics. The ongoing shutdown has led to staffing shortages and air traffic control towers. Airports across the country experienced scores of delays this week. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is threatening to fire air traffic controllers who don't show up for work. Here's details from NPR's Joel Rose.
In an interview on the Fox Business Channel, Secretary Duffy said there's been a noticeable uptick in the number of air traffic controllers calling out sick. Duffy said it's a small fraction of controllers who are creating a massive disruption and suggested the government could fire those, quote, problem children. And if we have some on our staff that aren't dedicated, like we need, we're going to let them go. Nearly 11,000 certified air traffic controllers are required to work during the government shutdown, but don't get paid until it ends. Thousands of flights have been delayed this week as the Federal Aviation Administration limits the number of planes in the air in order to keep the skies safe.
Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.
With the ceasefire in Gaza holding, rescue workers have been retrieving bodies from the rubble after Israeli troops pulled back from some areas. An estimated 200,000 Palestinians have already returned to neighborhoods in the north, with many homes destroyed by two years of war.
What are the implications of the government shutdown on federal employees?
Tess Ingram from UNICEF told the BBC the aid agency has 1,300 trucks ready outside Gaza and waiting for the crossings to open.
We are really focused on meeting children's basic needs for survival because the stakes remain so high. And that means nutrition supplies, it means safe drinking water, it means shelter, blankets and warm clothes with winter coming.
President Trump expected to visit the region on Monday. He's to address Israel's parliament and to meet with leaders in Cairo. The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has written a letter telling the Trump administration that it won't be signing on to what the White House called a compact to get preferential treatment for federal funding. Here's NPR's Alyssa Nedwarny.
The letter from MIT President Sally Kornbluth says the compact, quote, includes principles with which we disagree. MIT was one of nine universities asked by the Department of Education to sign the agreement to ensure access to federal funding and grants. The compact requires schools to agree to a list of demands, including a five-year tuition rate freeze, limits on international students, and prohibiting the use of race or sex as admissions factors. Kornbluth writes, the university believes that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone, and therefore, quote, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education. The university is the first school to respond publicly to the administration's compact.
Alyssa Nadworny, NPR News.
And you're listening to NPR News. Voters in New Orleans heading to the polls today to elect a new mayor, as NPR's Matt Bloom reports.
New Orleans has drawn the national spotlight this year for a number of issues, including a major jailbreak, and is one of several Democratic-run cities where President Trump has said he wants to deploy National Guard troops to fight crime. The city's current Democratic mayor, LaToya Cantrell, is term-limited and also faces federal corruption charges. More than 10 candidates are vying for her seat, and most are running on promises to restore stability to city politics.
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