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Chapter 1: What are the key points of the new budget bill?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. A roller coaster for House Speaker Mike Johnson tonight, who's been working to bring a sweeping budget bill to the House floor for a vote. The Speaker nearly forced to pull the measure at the last minute when it became clear a handful of conservative fiscal hawks wanted deeper spending cuts were unwilling to support it.
What for voting is underway at this hour. The sweeping measure includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and new spending. It also includes spending cuts, but it would increase the deficit by more than $2 trillion. It would boost spending for defense and immigration enforcement. President Trump is creating a new visa program to court wealthy foreigners.
He's describing his plan as a gold card that would cost $5 million.
Chapter 2: How will the new visa program for wealthy foreigners work?
The president intends to roll out a new immigration program in about two weeks. He calls it a gold card that is akin to a green card for people with a lot of money.
It's going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They'll be wealthy and they'll be successful and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people.
Chapter 3: What changes are being proposed for immigration and residency?
The president said he could envision selling a million or more of these cards to raise revenue. This new measure would effectively replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa, which allows foreigners to gain residency in the United States if they create American jobs and businesses. Asma Khalid, NPR News, the White House.
Chapter 4: Why is the White House renaming the Gulf of Mexico controversial?
The White House appears to be sending a clear signal to the press corps amid an ongoing controversy with the Associated Press over its refusal to officially recognize the administration's renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The White House now says it will decide which news outlets can cover President Trump. That departs from a century-long tradition of independence.
Chapter 5: How is the White House changing media access?
where the White House Correspondents Association ran the pool through a rotation of members. Eugene Daniels covers the White House for Politico and is the current president of the WHCA.
This is bigger than the WHCA. This is about the White House press corps and having the right people covering the president of the United States, and that's independent news organizations that aren't chosen by the president of the United States.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt says legacy outlets may still be in the pool, but new voices will be added, including streaming services and local radio hosts. On Wall Street, the broad market fell further from recent record run-ups. That was amid heightened concerns about the confidence of U.S.
consumers and the possible inflationary effects of proposed Trump administration tariffs against major U.S. trading partners. The tech sector and cryptocurrencies also took a hit in some cases today. Blue chips did close higher, though, up 159 points to 43,621. The Nasdaq dropped 260 points to 19,026 today. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 28 points to end the session at 5,955.
You're listening to NPR News in Washington. The Trump administration is launching an investigation into whether to impose tariffs on copper imports for national security reasons. That's according to a White House official speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity. President Trump signed an executive action today mandating the probe.
The official said China's been flooding world markets with subsidized copper and the U.S. has boosted imports and fallen behind in smelting and refining capacity despite having considerable reserves in Alaska and Arizona. China is not among the world's top copper exporters. It's not clear how quickly the investigation might happen.
Riannan is the latest artist to cancel a performance at the Kennedy Center. As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, the Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning musician announced she's moving her show to another venue in Washington.
Rhiannon Giddens writes on social media that her May 11th concert at the Kennedy Center was scheduled, quote, long before the current administration decided to take over this previously nonpolitical institution. Earlier this month, President Trump terminated and replaced Kennedy Center leadership, making himself chairman of the board.
Giddens says Kennedy Center tickets will be refunded and that her show will move to the D.C. venue The Anthem. Other artists who've canceled appearances include mystery writer Louise Penny, citing Trump's takeover as the reason, and the Brooklyn-based Puerto Rican band Baloon. The Kennedy Center says its new leadership has not made any programming changes. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington.
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