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Today's top stories
Beginning today, the Federal Aviation Administration will reduce air traffic by 10% at many of the busiest airports. This move is intended to help keep the nation's airspace safe as the agency deals with a shortage of air traffic controllers and the government shutdown. Airlines have started canceling flights in order to comply with the FAA's orders.
- 🎧 The shutdown is taking a toll on air traffic controllers, who are required to work without pay. NPR's Joel Rose tells Up First that there is some speculation that the reduction in air traffic is mostly a PR or political move related to ending the shutdown. The air traffic control system was functioning fairly well during the shutdown until this past weekend, when staffing shortages occurred at dozens of facilities simultaneously. Travelers have expressed concern over what could happen if their flights are canceled due to the FAA's change.
The Trump administration is appealing a court decision ordering it to restore full funding for SNAP benefits by today. The government previously stated it would restore partial benefits in response to an earlier decision. In a new decision made yesterday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island ruled that the government failed to consider the harm to individuals who rely on those benefits.
- 🎧 The emergency fund to keep SNAP going was only enough to make partial benefit payments, resulting in McConnell saying the administration would need to tap into money from customs revenue. The deadline the judge set is for the government to distribute the money to states, but even if it manages that, NPR's Tovia Smith says it is hard to imagine funds could reach individuals that fast. The administration previously stated that reducing benefits is a complicated process that could take weeks to months, and it is unclear whether that process now needs to be undone.
President Trump's allies are raising concerns that he is spending too much time focused on the rest of the world and not enough on domestic issues. The president has been nurturing international relations, from currently hosting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary at the White House to a dinner last night with leaders from Central Asia. Earlier, he also threatened strikes against Nigeria. These actions occurred during the same week that the government shutdown became the longest in history.
- 🎧 The election results have also pointed to Trump possibly losing his edge on the economy. The president's approval ratings are also low, NPR's Franco Ordoñez says. Among Trump's allies, Vice President JD Vance stated that Republicans need to focus on what is happening on the home front while commenting on the Democratic victories at the ballot box. The White House informed Ordoñez that there will be more of an economic focus on the U.S., pointing to yesterday's announcement of lower prices on obesity drugs.
Deep dive
Through an investigation, NPR explored the question of how a person's credit history affects their auto insurance costs, as well as why their credit history matters to insurance companies. After examining data from Quadrant Information Services, startling differences in auto insurance rates were found between drivers with poor credit and those with excellent credit, often resulting in thousands of dollars in annual premiums.
- 🚗 Insurance companies and industry groups defended the use of credit history to help set premiums. They say it is a powerful indicator of whether a driver will have an insured loss.
- 🚗 Consumer advocates point out that credit scores are consistently lower for lower-income Americans and people of color.
- 🚗 Will Guzzardi, a Democratic lawmaker representing mostly Latino Chicagoans in the Illinois state legislature, has been working on car insurance fairness for about two years. His efforts include introducing a bill that would have required insurers to prove that their practices don't harm any policyholders based on race, gender, or other factors.
Find comparisons of how your credit score affects insurance premiums in your ZIP code here.
Weekend picks
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Movies: Sydney Sweeney plays Christy Martin, who was considered the most successful female boxer of the 1990s, in Christy. The film highlights her rise to fame and addresses the emotional and physical abuse she endured from her then-husband.
📺 TV: The miniseries All Her Fault follows a mother, played by Sarah Snook, who is desperately trying to locate her 5-year-old son. As the show progresses, flashbacks also reveal parts of many of the characters' pasts.
📚 Books: Palestinian scholar Tareq Baconi's memoir, Fire in Every Direction, explores themes of queer identity, family history, and political awakening. Plus, six other books that were released this week.
🎵 Music: On Rosalía's Lux, she explores the classics of symphonic sound and opera vocals. She says that her goal for the album is to reconcile her desire to create music that is both enjoyable and challenges you.
🎭 Theater: A pilot program enables original Broadway shows that underperformed to be adapted into student theater productions. Listen to these students prepare for their opening night of one of the shows.
🍽️ Food: Cambodian-American chef Nite Yun, who was born in a refugee camp, has released her debut cookbook, My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook. She also shared a recipe for kroeung, a fragrant herb paste, with Morning Edition.
❓ Quiz: Yay! This week I got an 'almost perfect' 9/10! Now it is your turn to receive an impressive score.
3 things to know before you go
- Sean Charles Dunn, the man who was charged with assault for throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal officer in Washington, D.C., has been found not guilty. The case became a symbol of resistance to Trump's federal surge in the city.
- NPR's 'Word of the Week' is 'honestly,' which has seen a surge in popularity online and in conversation in recent years. Here's how the word has evolved.
- Tesla shareholders have approved a conditional pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could unlock up to a trillion dollars in stock if the company meets specific criteria, according to preliminary results from the annual shareholder meeting.
This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.
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