NPR News: 12-08-2025 8AM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case today testing the limit of President Trump's powers. Trump fired a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission this year, but the fired commissioner sued. A lower federal court agreed with her, and it cited a Supreme Court case from 1935. The Supreme Court said back then that commissioners can only be fired for cause under the law. and that the FTC performs some legislative and judicial functions. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports Trump administration officials argue that Supreme Court decision is wrong.
And they say the Constitution spells out clearly that the president holds all the executive power. Yes, he relies on officers who assist him, including at independent agencies like the FTC, but he must be able to remove those among them who stand in his way. Otherwise, how could he be accountable to the people who elected him?
NPR's Andrea Hsu reporting.
What case will the Supreme Court hear regarding President Trump's powers?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in London today meeting European leaders. This get-together comes as the Trump administration pushes Zelensky to accept concessions and peace talks to end Russia's war on Ukraine. NPR's Lauren Freyer has more from London.
Ukrainian President Zelensky says weekend talks with Trump administration officials were, quote, constructive, though not easy. Ukrainian officials want changes to a White House peace plan they see as favoring or perhaps even written by Russia. And European leaders are rallying around Zelensky. They want a seat at the table for negotiations that involve their security, too. The U.K. says Russian submarine incursions on NATO's north flank have increased 30 percent in the past two years. On social media, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote that Ukraine can count on his unwavering support and that what's at stake in Ukraine is also the security of Europe as a whole.
Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London. Thailand says it has launched airstrikes against Cambodian positions at the mutual border. This comes after at least one Thai soldier was killed and several wounded during border clashes this weekend. Michael Sullivan reports Thailand claims there have been repeated violations of a ceasefire that was signed just in October.
A statement from the Thai army says Cambodia initiated the clashes and had also launched rockets toward civilian areas but reported no casualties. Thailand says it's now evacuating civilians from the affected areas. Cambodia's defense ministry, meanwhile, blamed the Thais for launching dawn attacks on Cambodian positions but claimed its troops had not retaliated. The initial ceasefire agreement was brokered by President Trump and Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Five days of fighting between the two sides that erupted in July left nearly 50 dead. For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Lawmakers have unveiled the defense policy bill. This would spend about $900 billion on the U.S. military. That's about $8 billion more than President Trump has asked for. The measure gives Ukraine about $400 million, and it offers a nearly 4 percent pay raise to enlisted U.S. troops. The House of Representatives will take up the measure this week. Lawmakers hope to get it to the president by the end of this year. The rock band KISS, singers George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford, as well as actress Sylvester Stallone, were celebrated last night at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. NPR's Andrew Limbaugh has more.
Sly's younger brother Frank Stallone offered a tribute to the rocky actor from the stage.
What are the implications of President Trump's power to fire FTC commissioners?
Gospel singers sang in honor of Gloria Gaynor. The band Cheap Trick played a version of rock and roll all night to honor Kiss. This was the first Kennedy Center honor since President Trump took over the place earlier this year, and it had his fingerprints all over it.
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