NPR News Now: December 6, 2025, 4AM EST

Host: Doua Khalisay Kowtel
Date: December 6, 2025
Duration: 5 minutes

Episode Overview

This news update provides coverage on significant national and international events from health policy shifts in the U.S. to political and legal developments affecting migration, executive authority, and community projects. Major stories include changes to CDC vaccination guidelines, U.S. political influence in Europe, judicial rulings on migrant detention practices, presidential powers, and local legal action against a large Islamic community project in Texas.

Key Stories and Discussion Points

1. CDC Advisory Committee Narrows Hepatitis B Vaccination Guidance

• [00:17–01:08]

• The CDC’s advisory committee voted 8–3 to end its 30-year-old recommendation for universal hepatitis B vaccination at birth.

• New guidance: Only recommends immediate vaccination for newborns whose mothers test positive for the virus.

• Parents of babies born to mothers who are negative or of unknown status are advised to consult with doctors, and possibly delay vaccination to two months.

• Before administering second and third doses—typically required for full protection—families are encouraged to discuss testing first.

  “The committee voted to only urge that babies born to women who test positive for the virus get vaccinated at birth.”
  — Rob Stein, [00:41]

  “The new recommendations would also urge parents to talk to their doctors about testing their kids first before... getting the second and third doses that are usually given for full protection.”
  — Rob Stein, [00:54]

• Context: The panel was convened by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., noted for his skepticism toward vaccines and his broader review of childhood immunizations.

2. Trump Administration Pledges Support for European Anti-Immigration Parties

• [01:08–02:19]

• The administration has published a document promising support for "patriotic" parties promoting nationalism and opposing immigration in Europe.

• Reaction:

  • Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Vadapoel rebuffed the U.S., saying Europeans “don’t need advice on democracy from the Trump administration.”
  • The pledge aligns with far-right parties such as Reform UK and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the latter classified as extremist by German intelligence.

• The U.S. justification: Supporting these parties is “necessary to promote European greatness and prevent a future where certain NATO members will become majority non-European.”

  “Europeans don’t need advice on democracy from the Trump administration.”
  — Johann Vadapoel, via Lauren Frayer, [01:41]

3. Judge Blocks Use of Guantanamo Bay for Migrant Detention

• [02:19–03:13]

• A federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s use of Guantanamo Bay as a deportation holding site, following an ACLU lawsuit.

• About 700 migrants had been detained there since February, typically for periods of days or weeks.

• The judge cited cost concerns ($100,000 per detainee per day vs. $165 in the U.S.) and declared the administration’s use of offshore military bases for this purpose illegal.

  “The judge said that's costing $100,000 a day per detainee, whereas it would cost about $165 a day per detainee to hold them in the U.S.”
  — Sasha Pfeiffer, [02:45]

  “The administration is not legally permitted to use offshore military bases to hold detainees designated for deportation.”
  — Sasha Pfeiffer, [03:02]

4. Circuit Court Expands Presidential Power Over Independent Agencies

• [03:17–04:22]

• The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the president can fire members of certain independent agencies at will, even where federal law says otherwise. This relates to Trump’s firing of board members from the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board.

• Context:

  • The ruling finds a 1935 Supreme Court precedent limiting removal power does not apply to agencies wielding broad executive authority.
  • The Supreme Court plans to hear a similar case soon, as the Trump administration seeks to overturn the longstanding precedent.

  “The appeals court found that a 1935 Supreme Court decision limiting the president’s power to remove officers… doesn’t apply here because both agencies wield substantial executive power.”
  — Andrea Hsu, [03:47]

  “The Trump administration has asked the court to strike down that 1935 precedent and recognize that the president has unlimited power to remove those who assist him in carrying out his duties.”
  — Andrea Hsu, [04:07]

5. Texas Attorney General Sues to Halt Massive Islamic Center Project

• [04:22–04:55]
• Texas AG Ken Paxton filed suit to stop a 400-acre housing and education project in Plano, described as the “epicenter of Islam in North America.”
• Paxton accuses the developer (Epic / East Plano Islamic Center) and partners of violating state security laws and running a “radical plot to destroy hundreds of acres of beautiful Texas land and line their own pockets.”

Notable Quotes

• “Europeans don’t need advice on democracy from the Trump administration.”
  — Johann Vadapoel (via Lauren Frayer), [01:41]

• “The judge said that's costing $100,000 a day per detainee, whereas it would cost about $165 a day... to hold them in the U.S.”
  — Sasha Pfeiffer, [02:45]

• “The president has unlimited power to remove those who assist him in carrying out his duties.”
  — Andrea Hsu, [04:07]

Segment Timestamps

• [00:17] CDC revises infant hepatitis B vaccination guidelines
• [01:08] U.S. backs European nationalist parties; German pushback
• [02:19] Judge halts Guantanamo migrant detentions
• [03:17] Presidential power strengthened over independent agencies
• [04:22] Texas AG sues to stop Islamic Center project

This summary highlights the fast-moving and consequential legal, political, and policy news covered in the December 6, 2025, 4AM EST edition of NPR News Now, giving listeners a concise yet comprehensive account of the hour’s top stories.