Chapter 1: 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 Dan Ronan.
Chapter 2: What did President Trump discuss during his Christmas Eve calls?
President Trump on Christmas Eve made telephone calls to some children across the country as the North American Aerospace Defense Command tracked Santa's annual journey from the North Pole. On a call with a child from Kansas, the president asked what they wanted for Christmas, and the call pivoted to energy policy.
What would you like Santa to bring? Not cool. Not coal. No, you don't want coal. Well, coal is, you mean clean, beautiful coal. I had to do that, I'm sorry.
Another child told the president they wanted a Kindle for Christmas. He responded, you must be a high IQ person. We need more high IQ people in the country. Days after the Friday deadline, the Justice Department continued to release thousands of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. NPR's Ashley Lopez reports many of those documents have been released.
So far, they are heavily redacted. In some cases, it wasn't done properly.
Parts of the Epstein document released from the Justice Department include hastily redacted information that could be easily read by simply copying and pasting some of the redacted sections. So far, this new information has not shed any significant new light on the case of the disgraced financier, but it has raised more questions about the process and decision making.
behind how the DOJ decided to redact and release information. In a letter to Congress earlier this week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch said the agency created a protocol to properly and legally work through the thousands of documents related to Epstein. He also said the agency is committed to full transparency. Ashley Lopez, NPR News.
The Department of Homeland Security is changing the rules for the H-1B visas set to take effect in late February. It's a kind of visa that allows skilled foreign workers to come to the United States. The Trump administration says the H-1Bs have been abused by companies trying to staff up on cheap workers. NPR's John Rewich has more.
The new rules will be in place for the 2027 fiscal year. The big change is that they do away with the lottery system. has for years determined who gets H-1B visas. Instead, there will be a weighted selection process that favors people with higher skills and higher salaries.
The idea is to prevent employers from using the program to import low-wage foreign labor and to protect wages and job opportunities for U.S. workers. The cap on the number of H-1B visas will stay at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 for foreigners with advanced U.S. degrees.
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