Danielle Kurtzleben
Appearances
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-04-2025 4PM EST
There's a pretty unusual dynamic hanging over this speech. This Congress, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans, they have been remarkably acquiescent. to Trump's norm-shattering moves. And that acquiescence has come even as Trump has consolidated wide-ranging governmental powers into the executive branch, including powers that Congress historically has had, things like imposing tariffs.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-01-2025 2AM EST
A White House spokesperson said that around 20 boxes were returned. Reporters traveling with the president on Friday saw the boxes in the back of a van pulled up to Air Force One as it was loading. The White House did not say, however, what exactly was in the boxes. The FBI investigation resulted in 37 felony counts against Trump related to allegedly mishandling documents.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-01-2025 2AM EST
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith requested the case be dismissed after November's election, saying the Justice Department cannot prosecute a sitting president. In a social media post, Trump said the boxes, quote, will someday be part of the Trump Presidential Library. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, West Palm Beach, Florida.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST
One order directs agencies to find ways to increase lumber production. Another directs the Secretary of Commerce to investigate possible lumber tariffs. The White House says the goal is to reduce the cost of building housing. Tariffs are taxes American businesses pay to import products from abroad. Trump has also threatened tariffs on an array of other goods and countries.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST
Canada accounts for around 40% of American lumber imports, by far the largest of any country. Trump has also threatened blanket 25 percent tariffs on Canada as well as Mexico, saying those could take effect as early as March 4th. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, West Palm Beach, Florida.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Well, even if you don't know what an independent agency is, you probably have interacted with one in some way. Let's start with that basic fact. There is, for example, the FDIC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that insures your bank deposits in the U.S.,
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
There's the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which issues those recalls on products you see when you see that some baby crib is determined not to be safe. That's the CPSC that puts that out. They underpin so many areas of American life. Now, what these all have in common, there's no set legal definition for them, but they were set up by Congress to be insulated in some way from the presidency.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
The leaders, for example, can't be fired for political reasons. A president can only fire one by law for doing something really wrong, like misconduct. They're often headed by boards or commissions of people with staggered terms. The idea there is that no president can totally change the leadership, him or herself. And they don't have to submit new regulations to the White House.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
When the DOD comes up with a new regulation, they have to submit it. These agencies don't. But this new executive order would change that part in particular.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Well, in short, this order really rips out that insulation I talked about that these agencies have tended to have from the president. So let me make up a very simple hypothetical. The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, has a new regulation about what words you can and can't say on television or the radio. They haven't had to run that by the White House so far. Well, now they would.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But there are a couple other related things this order would do. It says each agency has to have a White House liaison. what they do has to be consistent with White House policy and that the Office of Management and Budget Director, a guy named Russell Vogt under Donald Trump, he has power over their apportionments, over their money, so he can adjust what they have and how they spend it.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
quote, to advance the president's policies and priorities. So this gives the president so much power with these agencies. I do want to add one important thing here, though. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee, both at the Fed, the central bank, they are exempted from this.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
The Fed's independence has long been seen as a fundamental part of the way that it stabilizes the economy.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
I mean, there is definitely the fact that Donald Trump in his first term very much sought to have as much presidential power as possible. So, I mean, the fact that he broadly wants to expand the power of the presidency, yeah, we kind of knew that. But this in particular... He never, on the campaign trail that I heard and I went to a lot of his events, said anything about independent agencies.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But there's another move he has made this year, which is he has fired the heads of some of these agencies, commissioners at like the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That is something that presidents just haven't done. Like I've said, the idea is a president shouldn't be able to fire those people for political purposes.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
That goes hand in hand with what he is doing here, claiming this power. And the idea of claiming power over these agencies and being able to fire those heads, that is in Project 2025, that conservative blueprint for government.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
And Russell Vogt, the head of OMB that I mentioned, who's in charge of all of this, after Donald Trump was elected, very much said, hey, independent agencies ain't going to be independent.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
I was asking a legal scholar as I was reporting on this, OK, let's say I am the head of the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, and I don't want to do what Trump has told me to do in this order. Can I take this to court? Is that how this could reach the Supreme Court? And he said, well... He doesn't know of how that would work in terms of me being able to take that to court.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But either way, under this president, this particular president, if I don't want to do what he tells me, he's going to fire me. Right. And he has already shown that he will fire the heads of these agencies. And at that point, I might sue and say that my termination was unlawful. The thing is, that has already happened.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
We've had a commissioner, for example, from the National Labor Relations Board who has who is suing and saying, you can't fire me, but you just did. when those cases, should they, and I want to stress should, make it to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to clarify what they think about the independence of these agencies.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But as Mara just said, this particular Supreme Court has proven itself very willing in the last few years to chip away at that independence via a whole range of rulings.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, American importers will now be paying a 25 percent tax on steel and aluminum, and that makes these tariffs a lot like some you might remember him imposing during his first term, except this time the aluminum rate is higher. It was 10 percent back then.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
In doing this, the administration has stressed they're trying to use these tariffs to stick it to China, which is the world's biggest steel exporter. Now, the U.S. doesn't actually get much steel or aluminum directly from China, but the White House argues that Chinese steel makes it into the U.S. by being sold through other countries.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, the U.S. gets by far the most of its aluminum imports from Canada, according to data compiled by Reuters. And on steel, Canada is also first. And there are other allies on that list, like Mexico and South Korea. You might notice that in all those countries I mentioned, Canada and Mexico feature prominently.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Trump had recently threatened tariffs on them and then paused them at the last minute. Well, with this new announcement, he's putting tariffs on those two countries anyway, just not on all of their goods. And that gets to one really important thing about these tariffs. There are no exceptions to these. And that's different from Trump's tariffs last time around.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
It's also different from how Biden treated tariffs. Both of them had carve outs on tariffs for some allies, but not now.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, in the near term, this should be good for American steel and aluminum companies because tariffs raise the price of steel and aluminum and they protect against some foreign competition. And markets seemed to think so yesterday. Shares of Alcoa, an American aluminum company, and U.S. steel were both up. But that doesn't mean this is great for the rest of the economy.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
I talked to Gary Huffbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He told me that industries that use those metals, like aircraft and auto manufacturing, also bridge construction, those could lose jobs.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
He's saying there that not only would prices be higher for steel and aluminum, but other countries are likely to hit back and tariff American exports, which will hurt these companies.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, it's unclear, but he's dribbled out a bit of information. He has said he'll be announcing what he calls reciprocal tariffs. The idea there seems to be that whatever tariff a foreign country has put on a U.S. good, he wants to impose it back in return. He also said yesterday that he'll be considering tariffs on cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors.
Up First from NPR
Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
But it was unclear whether those are separate from the reciprocal tariffs. And this is one constant feature of how Trump does tariff policy. There's often not an orderly rollout. We really just don't know what's coming until he says it. I'm PR's Danielle Kurtzleben.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Not a lot. We know broad strokes, but the White House hasn't given reporters the kind of preview information that they often do ahead of these speeches. Now, they have said the theme is the renewal of the American dream. And one thing you can definitely expect is to hear Trump talk about what he counts as his accomplishments.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
For example, the steps he's taken in the past six weeks to get rid of Joe Biden's policies and also just to do what Trump told his base he would do during the campaign. Now, a lot of those moves are aggressive, to put it mildly, and there are things that are being challenged in the courts.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
So moving immigrants to Guantanamo Bay, diminishing transgender people's rights, and not to mention bringing on an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, to gut federal agencies.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Yes, we do know he's going to ask Congress to spend more money on border security. We also expect him to ask for another top legislative priority, which is extending tax cuts passed in his first term. But one thing that I would add is there's a pretty unusual dynamic hanging over this speech. This Congress, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans, they have been remarkably acquiescent.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
to Trump's norm-shattering moves. And that acquiescence has come even as Trump has consolidated wide-ranging governmental powers into the executive branch, including powers that Congress historically has had, things like imposing tariffs.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Well, he has said he will be talking about that proposal under which the U.S. would get some revenue from Ukraine's mineral resources. It's part of how Trump wants to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, that mineral deal. Now, a reporter asked Trump yesterday if the mineral deal is dead after that fight, and Trump seemed to leave the door open.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Now, he has also said he's been talking to European leaders, and it does sound like we'll hear more about this tonight. Now, Democrats, for their part, their response to the speech will be from Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin, who worked at the CIA prior to holding office, and she's been attacking Trump on Ukraine a lot in recent weeks.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Well, you'll see Democrats continuing to try to figure out how to respond to Trump, and this will be an opportunity to do that. They'll have guests like fired federal workers and Medicaid recipients, the latter presumably to highlight the possibility that Republicans cut that program.
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Now, President Trump, we don't know who his guests are yet, but Melania Trump will have a guest who was a victim of revenge porn, and that's part of the First Lady's push to combat that type of online abuse.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Yeah, well, it's a full day of activities, and I'll mention just some of them. Following a service at St. John's Church, which is right next to the White House, the Bidens welcome the Trumps to the White House. And then midday, there's that official swearing-in ceremony. And again, like you said, it's in the Capitol because it's chilly outside today here in Washington.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Many supporters, however, will be watching that live stream in Capitol One Arena downtown, again, because of the cold. Then after that, Trump has a ceremony midday that could involve signing executive orders. And then in the afternoon, the inaugural parade has also been moved to the arena, which is where last night's rally was also held.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
So all that time spent cheering in an arena, it's really going to maybe fittingly feel like a lot of time at a traditional Trump rally.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Well, there is very much this pervasive feeling that the underdogs had won. That's definitely the story that a lot of speakers told, at least. It was celebratory, but also in very Trumpian fashion, there was a lot of focus on how the MAGA movement has a lot of enemies, as they said, and needs to keep fighting them.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
And supporters outside told me that this win just feels bigger right now than the win in 2016 because they think they have more of America behind them. This time, after all, Trump did win the popular vote, unlike in 2016. Now here is Cindy Pugh. I spoke with her as she stood in line. She came to D.C. from her home in the Minneapolis suburbs.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Yeah quite a few. I mean there was billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk. He gave an impromptu speech. Political commentator Megyn Kelly really stood out. She gave this very harsh speech that insulted Democrats and their famous supporters. She insulted Vice President Kamala Harris herself. And besides all of that in his speech, Trump called out cabinet members he's picked.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
The crowd had big cheers, especially for Pete Hegseth, who is the defense nominee, who was questioned at his hearing recently about allegations of drinking in the job and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has denied all of those.
Up First from NPR
Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Well, he's talked about doing a lot of executive orders. For example, he talked about carrying out mass deportations. And he also talked about pardoning people convicted of their actions during the January 6th riot four years ago.