White House looking to replace Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, official tells NPR

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared sensitive military information last month in two Signal group chats. Now, a U.S. official tells NPR a search is underway to replace Hegseth.

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 10:50 AM

White House looks for new defense secretary. And, remembering Pope Francis' legacy

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to reporters during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 21, the day after The New York Times reported that he shared information last month to a second private Signal group chat about upcoming strikes in Yemen.

The White House is searching for a new defense secretary to replace Pete Hegseth after a second Signal group chat controversy. And, Pope Francis' legacy is remembered worldwide.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 10:00 AM

Joan Didion leaves one more piece of writing to faithful fans

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Didion's book is an intimate chronicle of the author's struggle to help her daughter, even if it meant digging into her own long-unexamined neuroses.

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 10:00 AM

Trump wants a Golden Dome over America. Here's what it would take

The U.S. military tests its land-based Aegis missile defense system in 2018. Such systems can track and intercept short and medium-ranged missiles but struggle against larger, more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles of the sort used by Russia and China.

Experts are divided whether a new missile defense system for the U.S., inspired by Israel's Iron Dome, would be worth the cost.

(Image credit: Mark Wright/AP)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 10:00 AM

Senate Democrats press Hegseth for answers on Trump order to ban transgender troops

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth departs a presentation ceremony for the Commander-in-Chief Trophy to the U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen football team in the East Room of the White House on April 15.

Lawmakers are asking the Defense Secretary to explain how the Pentagon is complying with court rulings blocking President Trump's executive order attempting to ban transgender troops from service.

(Image credit: Win McNamee)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 9:37 AM

Public viewing for Pope Francis begins Wednesday ahead of Saturday funeral

Pilgrims arrive in St. Peter

Faithful from around the world are pouring into the Vatican, where Pope Francis' body will go on display Wednesday, ahead of a funeral Saturday.

(Image credit: Francisco Seco)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 9:01 AM

Hundreds of scholars say U.S. is swiftly heading toward authoritarianism

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USA

Most — but not all — political scientists are deeply troubled by the president's attempts to expand executive power, according to a national survey.

(Image credit: Rebecca Noble)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 9:00 AM

Supreme Court weighs who should decide public school curriculum: Judges or school boards?

The U.S. Supreme Court tackles a clash between the rights of school boards to determine the curriculum for students and the rights of parents to opt out of any class because the content conflicts with a parent

At issue is whether school systems are required to allow parents to opt their kids out of classes because of religious objections to classroom materials.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 9:00 AM

Help for ACA health plans could be harder to come by since RFK axed teams of 'fixers'

An insurance agent talks with clients inside a shopping center in Miami, on Dec. 5, 2023. Once someone enrolls in an Affordable Care Act plan, they can get help with sticky insurance issues from caseworkers at the federal government. Many caseworkers were cut in the recent round of federal layoffs.

Federal workers who help resolve complicated problems for Affordable Care Act policyholders are among those recently cut by the Trump administration.

(Image credit: Rebecca Blackwell)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 8:15 AM

Meet the artists behind the UN's second annual nature sounds mixtape

30 artists release songs with nature sounds to generate royalties for nature conservation in second annual United Nations Earth Day mixtape

(Image credit: Poyenchen, Andrew Quinn)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 5:36 AM

Walgreens to pay up to $350 million in U.S. opioid settlement

A Walgreens pharmacy store is seen in Deerfield, Ill., July 25, 2024.

The nationwide drugstore chain must pay the government at least $300 million and will owe another $50 million if the company is sold, merged, or transferred before 2032, according to the settlement.

(Image credit: Nam Y. Huh)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 5:09 AM

Harvard sues Trump administration to stop a freeze of more than $2 billion in grants

Students, faculty and members of the Harvard University community rally, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass.

Harvard University announced Monday that it has filed suit to halt a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration's demands to limit activism on campus.

(Image credit: Charles Krupa)

NPR NewsApr 22, 2025, 2:24 AM

Mahmoud Khalil misses son's birth after ICE official denies his request to be there

Mahmoud Khalil, center, and his wife Noor Abdalla, left, in violet headscarf, at Columbia University last year.

Khalil has been held in Louisiana since ICE agents arrested him in New York over his pro-Palestinian activism. He instead experienced the birth by phone.

(Image credit: Mary Altaffer)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 11:10 PM

Trump Administration to resume collections on student loan borrowers in default

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C..

The Education Department says millions of borrowers in default will have a chance to make a payment or sign up for a repayment plan. But on May 5, those who don't will be referred for collection.

(Image credit: Al Drago)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 9:47 PM

The Life and Legacy of Pope Francis

Pope Francis waves to worshipers at the end of the weekly general audience on April 3, 2019 at St. Peter

Pope Francis died of a stroke on Easter Monday, according to the Vatican. He was one of the most popular pontiffs in decades, taking stances on the inclusivity of the church as well as treatment of the poor and migrants. We look back on the life and the papacy of the first non-European pope in more than a millennium.

(Image credit: Alberto Pizzoli)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 9:40 PM

Pope Francis I has died. What happens now?

Newly elected Pope Francis I speaks to the waiting crowd from the central balcony of St Peter

On Monday morning in Rome Cardinal Kevin Farrell Camerlengo or Cardinal Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church announced the death of Pope Francis I.

That was followed some 17 hours later by the rite of ascertainment. A formal acknowledgement of Francis' death...and the transfer of his body to his coffin.

And it's one a few of the many centuries-old rituals that will play out over the next several days as the church mourns Pope Francis.

There will be the mourning of the faithful as Francis' body lies in St. Peter's Basilica. A funeral, where Francis will be remembered by his fellow priests, followers and world leaders. Then, the Conclave where the College of Cardinals will meet to choose his successor.

Pope Francis has died at 88. Now the church has to chart a course without his leadership. Who will be his successor, and what path will he choose?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C_onsider This+_ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

(Image credit: Peter Macdiarmid)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 9:10 PM

The Justice Department and Google battle over how to fix a search engine monopoly

After a federal judge ruled that Google had a monopoly on the search market, the tech giant and the government are in court to debate penalties. One possible result: forcing Google to spin off Chrome.

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 9:09 PM

'I'm praying to him today': Nancy Pelosi remembers Pope Francis

Rep. Nancy Pelosi shakes hands with Pope Francis on Capitol Hill in September 2015.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Speaker of the House Emerita Nancy Pelosi about her experiences meeting Pope Francis and his legacy.

(Image credit: Nikki Kahn)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 9:03 PM

Trumps welcome thousands to the White House for the annual Easter egg roll

Children and their parents participate in the White House Egg Roll on the South Lawn on Monday in Washington, D.C. The White House expected thousands of children and adults to participate in the annual tradition of rolling colored eggs down the White House lawn, which was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.

President Trump welcomed an estimated 40,000 people to the South Lawn of the White House on Monday for its annual Easter egg roll event. The annual tradition dates back to the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, and save for war and food shortages, has been a mainstay of Pennsylvania Avenue since 1878.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 8:02 PM

DHL will stop shipping packages over $800 to U.S. customers due to new customs rules

A DHL delivery vehicle is seen in front of a warehouse in Valence, France, in December 2024. The global shipping company announced it would temporarily stop shipping packages valued over $800 to U.S. consumers.

The shipping company's temporary new policy comes as President Trump continues to upend U.S. global trade policy.

(Image credit: Nicolas Guyonnet/Hans Lucas)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 7:22 PM

A look back at Pope Francis' life and legacy

Pope Francis waves to thousands of followers as he arrives at the Manila Cathedral on Jan. 16, 2015, in Manila, Philippines.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis died Monday, the day after Easter, at the age of 88. As the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, he was the first Latin American pontiff, the first non-European pope in more than a millennium, and he left behind a legacy of service, unity, and compassion.

(Image credit: Lisa Maree Williams)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 6:25 PM

Do you have memories of Pope Francis to share? Send them our way

Pope Francis drives through the crowds during the Inauguration Mass for the Pope in St. Peter

Pope Francis, one of the most popular popes in decades, has died. As the world mourns and reflects on his legacy, NPR would like to hear your stories.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 6:05 PM

Pope Francis is remembered around the world for his generosity of spirit

People attend an interfaith memorial meeting to mourn the death of Pope Francis in New Delhi, India, on Monday.

The pope's death at the age of 88 ends a 12-year papacy that began with the historic resignation of Francis' predecessor in 2013.

(Image credit: Imtiyaz Khan)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 5:22 PM

The White House has begun process of looking for new secretary of defense

The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 5:14 PM

What happens next after a pope dies, according to recent history

Thousands of people wait in line at the St Peter

The last pope to die during his tenure was Pope John Paul II in 2005. Here's what happened in the days and weeks that followed.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 4:37 PM

Catholics across the U.S. grieve, pray and reflect on the pope's legacy

Parishioners pray at St. Patrick

(Image credit: Yuki Iwamura)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 4:37 PM

Pope Francis focused on climate change as the planet continued to get hotter

Pope Francis greets Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg, right, during his weekly general audience in St. Peter

Pope Francis called on the world and 1.4 billion Catholics to confront climate change. He brought attention to the issue but it's not clear he changed many minds.

(Image credit: Massimo Valicchia)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 4:24 PM

With CDC injury prevention team gutted, 'we will not know what is killing us'

Federal layoffs affected teams at CDC that research injuries — including car crashes — to understand how to prevent them. Car crashes are the second leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 12.

Workers who track data on car crashes, drownings, traumatic brain injury, falls in the elderly, and other perils lost their jobs. Advocates worry life-saving work will stop.

(Image credit: Kyle Mazza/Anadolu)

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 3:22 PM

What Pope Francis wanted for his funeral, according to his autobiography

NPR NewsApr 21, 2025, 3:08 PM

China warns of 'countermeasures' against any deals that harm its interests

People walk past a screen showing the CSI 300 Index at a shopping mall in Guangzhou, in southern China

The comments come after reports that Trump is hoping to use tariff negotiations with other countries to isolate China.

(Image credit: Jade Gao)