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- [00:00]
Brex Announcer
This message comes from brex. BREX is the intelligent finance platform that helps you spend smarter and move faster. With Brex, you get corporate cards with built in expense management, plus a team of AI agents that handle manual finance tasks.
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NPR News Anchor
Learn more@brex.com live from NPR News. In Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth appeared before Congress today for the first time since the Iran war began. The hearing focused on the Trump administration's one and a half trillion doll military budget proposal for 2027. Democrats, like Pennsylvania Democrat Chrissy Houlihan, used the opportunity to grill Hegseth on the Iran war's costs, President Trump's shifting justifications for the war, and the huge drawdown of critical munitions.
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Politician or Congressional Member
How many more months, just order of magnitude, do you think that you're going to need to be able to conclude operations successfully? And how many more billions of dollars do you think you're going to ask this body for?
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NPR Correspondent or Analyst
As you know, and as the president has stated, you would never tell your
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NPR News Anchor
adversary, Lawmakers from both parties also have raised concerns about Hegsest's firing of top generals and other military leaders. The House of Representatives has voted to reauthorize a key U.S. spy tool ahead of a Thursday night deadline. 42 Democrats joined Republicans to pass the legislation, but the measure still has to clear the Senate, where Republican leadership has signaled the bill will be rewritten. NPR's Eric McDaniel has this report.
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NPR Correspondent or Analyst
Yes, the tool is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, also known as FISA. U.S. intelligence agencies use it to scoop up the communications of more than 300,000 foreign nationals located outside of the US each year. The government says the intelligence collected under FISA 702 underpins a huge share of the president's daily intelligence briefings. But reformers in both parties have long been concerned about the government reviewing Americans private information gathered as part of the surveillance and unsuccessfully pushed for law enforcement to need a warrant before agents could do targeted reviews of the communications of U.S. citizens in the database. The measure now heads to the Senate, which must act by Thursday night to avoid a potential legal morass if the law expires. Eric McDaniel, NPR News, the Capitol.
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NPR News Anchor
The U.S. supreme Court issued a ruling that could void a second majority black congressional district in Louisiana. Mel Bridges with member station WWNO reports on the local reaction.
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Politician or Congressional Member
U.S. congressman Cleo Fields, who represents the district at the heart of the case, called the decision a grave setback to voting rights and to the promise of equal political representation for all Americans. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Merrill, however, says she agrees with the court's decision that the redraw map relied too heavily on race. I think this takes us back where we always have been and should be, and that is with legislatures following traditional redistricting principles, all within the boundaries of the federal and state constitution. State leaders may not have enough time to redraw the maps before early voting opens on Saturday. The ACLU said they'll take legal action if the state tries to. For NPR News, I'm Mel Bridges in New Orleans.
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NPR News Anchor
The Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates on hold. There were some divisions amidst the uncertainty created by the war in Iran, but with one Fed board member voting to cut rates while three others voted to keep the rates on hold. This is npr. Elon Musk took the stand for the second day in the landmark trial that pits the world's richest man against Sam Altman, a fellow OpenAI co founder that Musk accuses of betraying, promises to keep the company as a non profit profit dedicated to humanity's benefit. The trial Centers on the 2015 birth of the ChatGPT maker as a nonprofit startup primarily funded by Musk before evolving into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852 billion. Most states require gubernatorial candidates to be at least 30 years old, but Vermont has no age requirement. NPR's Ava Pukach introduces us to a 14 year old running for governor.
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NPR Reporter
Dean Roy is the first candidate for governor under 18 to make it onto Vermont's general election ballot. To do so, he created a third party, the Freedom and Unity party, and collected 500 signatures from registered voters in the state.
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NPR Correspondent or Analyst
I want to see a lot more people getting involved in politics, especially younger people. I want to show that it is a lot easier to get involved in politics than it has been in the past.
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NPR Reporter
At 14 years old, Roy says he knows he's not likely to win, but he hopes he can use this campaign to build a base for a life in politics. Eva Pukach, NPR News.
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NPR News Anchor
If you can't visit the original Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, you might find one that at least rings a bell nearby. For a 1950 bond drive, the Treasury Department commissioned replicas for each U.S. state in several territories. The replicas have become a fascination for bell hunters. They weigh the same as the original and even have faux cracks, but different metallurgical makeup.
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Brex Announcer
NPR this message comes from Brex. Finance leaders face a brutal truth when managing company spend, control or speed, but not anymore. Brex breaks that trade off. Brex is the intelligent finance platform that helps you spend smarter and move faster with bricks. You get high limit corporate cards with built in expense management plus a team of AI agents that handle manual finance tasks for you. So you're free to focus on the business. Over 30,000 companies run on Brex. Join them at brex.
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NPR Reporter
Com.