Steve Inskeep (2:48)

This hearing was, in theory, supposed to focus on oversight of the Justice Department. Bondi instead insulted lawmakers and mostly ducked questions about documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A. Martinez (3:00)

NPR's Kerry Johnson followed the hearing. Carrie, I mean, even for Congress, this one was a doozy.

Carrie Johnson (3:06)

Definitely not business as usual. There was a lot of hostility. Pam Bondi came into this House Judiciary hearing prepared to attack Democrats on the panel when they tried to ask her about the messy rollout of the Epstein files and other controversies at the Justice Department. Congressman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, he wanted to know whether anyone else who worked with Jeffrey Epstein would be prosecuted. Here's a taste of how that went.

A. Martinez (3:31)

How many have you indicted? Excuse me?

Carrie Johnson (3:33)

I'm going to answer the question.

A. Martinez (3:35)

Answer my question.

Carrie Johnson (3:36)

No, I'm going to answer the question the way I want to answer the question.

A. Martinez (3:39)

No, you're going to answer the question the way I asked it.

Carrie Johnson (3:41)

The congressman never got an answer about whether anyone else might be under investigation. And the attorney general called other lawmakers on the panel. Washed up and bad lawyers, and on it went for hours.

A. Martinez (3:52)

Yeah, it sure did. Several Epstein survivors, though, who had been trafficked by him were in the hearing. Did the attorney general react to them or acknowledge them in any way?

Carrie Johnson (4:00)

At one point, Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington asked Pam Bondi to turn around and apologize to some of the victims in the room. In its release of 3 million pages, some of their identities and nude images appeared in public on the DOJ website. Bondi responded by accusing the congresswoman, who asked the question of engaging in gutter politics. Then, later in the day, a photo emerged of a document Bondi was holding. It seemed to be a search history of what the congresswoman had looked for at DOJ in the Epstein files. And that suggested DOJ's been surveilling the lawmakers who come to read the papers. That generated even more bad blood between the AG and Democrats. the hearing, though, Bondi also defended her record in law enforcement. I have spent my entire career fighting for victims, and I will continue to do so. I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim has been through, especially as a result of that monster.

A. Martinez (5:01)

All right, what about Republicans on the panel? When they had their chance to interact with the attorney general, they asked Pam.

Carrie Johnson (5:06)

Bondi about the enormous drop in violent crime across the country. They praised the Trump administration for tough immigration enforcement, and they gave her some time to respond to some of the harsher questions from Democrats. The only Republican on the panel who pushed back on the attorney general is Thomas Massie of Kentucky. He spun that law to release the Epstein files. And he says the DOJ effort has been a massive failure because it seems like prosecutors continue to black out the names of men who behaved badly. Massie told the ag, this is a cover up that spans decades, and she's responsible for part of it.

A. Martinez (5:40)

You know, the DOJ is really at the center of so many different controversies, including a lot of efforts to prosecute President Trump's political foes. I'm wondering if that came up at all in the hearing.

Carrie Johnson (5:50)

It really did. Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland. He sees a pattern here. Here's Raskin at the hearing.

Steve Inskeep (5:56)

You've turned the People's Department of Justice.

A. Martinez (5:59)

Into Trump's instrument of revenge.

Steve Inskeep (6:02)

Trump orders up prosecutions like pizza, and.

A. Martinez (6:05)

You deliver every time.

Carrie Johnson (6:06)

Remember, just this week, prosecutors tried and failed to get a grand jury to indict Democratic lawmakers who made a video telling American service members to follow their oaths and the law. DOJ has also brought cases against the former FBI Director Jim Comey and new Attorney General Tish James. Both those cases have been dismissed, but DOJ continues to investigate Trump's perceived political foes.

A. Martinez (6:29)

That's NPR's Carrie Johnson. Kerry, thanks.

Carrie Johnson (6:31)

Thank you.

A. Martinez (6:40)

President Trump continues to boast that his tariffs are bringing in billions of dollars for the US Economy.

Steve Inskeep (6:45)

His tariff agenda is under some threat. Six House Republicans bucked party leaders and joined Democrats to vote against tariffs. The US Charges on imports from Canada. That was enough for the measure to pass. It was a rare case where just enough Republicans voted independently of the president.

A. Martinez (7:03)

NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez is here. Franco, this revolt from some Republicans, it kind of feels like a big deal.

Scott Horsley (7:11)

Yeah.

Franco Ordonez (7:11)

I mean, it really was kind of a stark message to President Trump from those Republicans who joined Democrats on a vote that would essentially reverse the president's tariffs on Canada. You know, especially as we're heading into the midterm campaign season, I mean, Republicans are facing pressure from constituents about high costs and the business community, which is, you know, somewhat afraid to invest with all the uncertainty. And like Steve said, it's just another example of how Republicans are starting to stand up to the president. I mean, Trump, though, is really pushing back, sending a strong message that he'll support primaries against any Republican who votes against his terrorists. Yeah.

A. Martinez (7:48)

Okay, so let's get into the tariffs, because Trump always talks about how they're critical to the economy, that they Bring in billions of dollars into the government. How much water does that hold?

Franco Ordonez (7:56)

Yeah, I mean, it is true that it makes a lot of money. In fact, it may be trillions. According to a new Congressional Budget Office report, tariffs are actually expected to help reduce the deficit by over $3 trillion over a decade. But another part of the report points out that it's not foreign companies paying that money. Brendan Duke served at the National Economic Council in the Biden White House. He told me that the CBO report shows companies are passing off 90% of those costs to consumers, which flies directly.

A. Martinez (8:26)

In the face of the justifications that Trump and his entire administration has given for these sweeping taxes.

Franco Ordonez (8:34)

So the CBO report shows that this.

A. Martinez (8:36)

Is a sweeping tax on Americans going shopping at Walmart and Costco. You know, Frank, we've often seen the president to use tariffs as a weapon on friends and foes alike to get the things that he wants. So how might this shape the United States global image as a financial or economic partner?

Franco Ordonez (8:52)

Yeah, I mean, it's really hard to say, but I do think diplomats and foreign leaders are hoping some tariffs are lifted. I spoke to Michael Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He sees deeper symbolism here that goes well beyond Trump and whether the US can be a reliable partner again. And he said that even if all the tariffs are not lifted, some pushback would be seen as a positive sign. As long as we're trying to push back against this notion that the United States plays by different rules than everyone else, or that it uses this kind of weapon capriciously in pursuit of a personalized policy agenda, I think that's much better than the perception that America will continue to act this way indefinitely. Now, Trump has said, quote, we are screwed if the courts strike down tariffs because the US Might be on the hook to pay back billions of dollars in revenue collected from tariffs.

A. Martinez (9:45)

So are we possibly talking about the end of tariffs? I mean, didn't the White House say they did have contingency plans?

Franco Ordonez (9:51)

Yeah, Trump is wedded to them too much. And he signaled he'll find a way, even under an unfavorable ruling by the court. You know, there are different kinds of terrorists that don't fall under what the Supreme Court is deciding, but it does demonstrate some guardrails that Trump is unable to do things at will. And actually, a, it might open him up to more political pressure as Republicans are more willing to break rank ahead of the midterms.

A. Martinez (10:17)

That's White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Thanks a lot.

Franco Ordonez (10:20)

Thanks, Dave.

A. Martinez (10:29)

We're getting some mixed signals about the strength of the US Job market.

Steve Inskeep (10:32)

Hiring in January was stronger than expected, but it turns out employers added fewer jobs last year than initially reported. So what does that mean for the economy and for people's paychecks in this year? That's now beginning.

A. Martinez (10:44)

NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now. And the data says, it says employers.

Scott Horsley (10:50)

Added 130,000 jobs last month, which is more than double the pace of hiring we saw in either November or December. So that's an encouraging sign that maybe the labor market is finding its footing here at the beginning of 2026. But there are some caveats to that. Last month's hiring was really concentrated in just a handful of industries, especially health care, which tends to be immune to the ups and downs of the broader economy. And economist Sarah House of Wells Fargo says there just aren't as many job openings as used to be.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (11:21)

It's still a tough jobs market if you're unemployed to break into.

Carrie Johnson (11:25)

But we did see overall the unemployment rate tick down, and importantly, that came even as we saw the labor force increase. So it wasn't because you're having more people just give up on looking for work.

Scott Horsley (11:38)

The overall unemployment rate dipped to 4.3% last month. And we also saw some improvement in the unemployment rates for African Americans and young people, which had spiked above 8 and 9% last year.

A. Martinez (11:50)

But also the job market was a lot weaker in 2025 than we first thought.

Scott Horsley (11:54)

Yeah, Once a year, the Labor Department cross checks its numbers, the numbers from its monthly survey, against more complete but less timely data from business tax records. This is a routine process. It happens every year. But this latest revision was a big one and it wiped out most of the jobs we thought we'd added in 2025. This is kind of a puzzle because GDP was growing at a pretty healthy clip last year. So why is the economy adding so few jobs? Laura Ulrich, who's with the Indeed Hiring Lab, says eventually something's got to give.

Carrie Johnson (12:24)

Either firms are going to look and say, hey, we are still growing quite a bit. We need to hire some more people, or they're not going to grow as.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (12:34)

They hope and they're going to lay people off.

Scott Horsley (12:37)

Now, it is possible over time that artificial intelligence will allow businesses to produce lots more output with a lot fewer workers. But most economists think it's too early to be seeing that kind of effect in the job market just yet.

A. Martinez (12:49)

Alright. Now, what about wages? What's happening with wages?

Scott Horsley (12:53)

They're still going up, although not as fast as they had been average wages in January were up 3.7% from a year ago. That's fast enough to outpace inflation. But with this softer job market, workers generally don't have the kind of bargaining power to command much higher wages than they did a few years ago. And because we're no longer adding as many jobs, Wells Fargo's Sarah House says that could limit the overall purchasing power of workers in the economy in aggregate.

Carrie Johnson (13:20)

We're just not seeing as much income growth coming from the labor market. And so that has implications in terms of maintaining the recent pace of consumer spending.

Scott Horsley (13:30)

And as we know, consumer spending is the biggest driver of the broader economy. So far, that consumer spending has held up pretty well. But in order to maintain that spending, some workers have had to drain their savings or put it on the credit card.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (13:45)

All right.

A. Martinez (13:45)

That's NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks a lot.

Scott Horsley (13:47)

You're welcome.

A. Martinez (13:52)

And that's up first for Thursday, February 12th. I'm A. Martinez.

Steve Inskeep (13:56)

And I'm Steve Inskeep. A. I don't know if you're familiar with this. This is kind of exciting. Did you know that there's this podcast, this video podcast.

A. Martinez (14:05)

I've heard of it.

Steve Inskeep (14:05)

Yeah. Called Up First.

A. Martinez (14:06)

We heard the host is so attractive, like, just melts your face attractive.

Steve Inskeep (14:13)

Well, we're gonna let people decide for themselves because this is a video podcast from the team that brings you Up First. It's the Olympics, as you would guess from the name Up First Winter Games, and the host is A. Martinez. Find it every afternoon@YouTube.com NPR and get ready to blush.

A. Martinez (14:29)

Today's episode of Up first was edited by Anna Yukoninoff, Rebecca Metzler, Rafael Naam, and Mohamed El Bardisi, and also Alice Wolfley was produced by Ziad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hyness. Our technical director is Carly Strange. Our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens. Join us again tomorrow.

Sponsor/Advertisement Voice (14:50)

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A. Martinez (15:20)

How could your favorite NPR podcast get any better? Well, what if it had bonus features such as extended interviews and zero sponsor breaks. There is a remarkably easy way to turn that fantasy into reality. It's called NPR. You get perks across more than 25 NPR podcasts while supporting the teams that make them make great podcasts even greater by visiting plus.NPR.org Bad Bunny gave one of the greatest super bowl halftime performances of all time. We'll tell you why and what this performance means at this particular political moment. Listen to a recap on Pop Culture Happy Hour via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.