--:-- Ryland Barton: This message comes from Live Right, publishers of Jill Lepore's We the People, a bold new history of the U.S. Constitution.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Congressman Jamie Raskin writes that Lepore has thrown us a lifeline. We the People, available now.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. It's just four hours until a likely government shutdown after Congress failed to pass a pair of bills that would have kept federal agencies open past midnight tonight.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The White House is blaming congressional Democrats for it.
--:-- Tamara Keith: But as NPR's Tamara Keith reports, President Trump also says it may present an opportunity to lay off workers and cut programs.
--:-- Tamara Keith: White House staff put a video on loop in the press briefing room with old clips of congressional Democrats talking about what a bad idea government shutdowns are.
--:-- Tamara Keith: President Trump said the last thing he'd want to do is shut it down. But a lot of good can come down from shutdowns.
--:-- Tamara Keith: We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn't want and they'd be Democrat things, but they want open borders.
--:-- Tamara Keith: They want men playing in women's sports. They want transgender for everybody. They never stop.
--:-- Tamara Keith: The White House has also threatened mass firings of federal workers Democrats are pressing the White House and Republicans to negotiate with them on health care
--:-- Tamara Keith: NPR News
--:-- Pete Hegseth: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a gathering of top generals and admirals that he's overhauling military standards and gender rules.
--:-- Tom Bowman: As NPR's Tom Bowman explains, it could lead to a dramatic drop of women in combat.
--:-- Tom Bowman: What he said about toughening physical fitness standards for those in combat jobs who are talking armor, artillery, infantry, and he said he wants men and women to achieve, quote, the highest male standard in such things as lifting weights, dragging a sled that stands in for a wounded comrade, carrying an ammo box, running.
--:-- Tom Bowman: So in general, more weight, more pull-ups, faster times.
--:-- Tom Bowman: There are some 600 female Marines in those jobs, roughly 3,000, 4,000 Army women in combat jobs.
--:-- Tom Bowman: One Marine officer I spoke with who's well-versed on fitness tests estimated you could lose more than 20% of women in those jobs if they have to meet the highest male standard.
--:-- Tom Bowman: The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak publicly.
--:-- Tom Bowman: NPR's Tom Bowman reporting
--:-- President Trump: President Trump says that the National Institutes of Health will invest in data sharing to boost the use of AI in detecting and treating pediatric cancers.
--:-- Yuki Noguchi: NPR Yuki Noguchi reports this comes amid massive cuts in federal funding for scientific and medical research
--:-- Yuki Noguchi: The Trump administration says it committing an additional million to an NIH program to build on ways to apply AI to fighting cancer
--:-- Yuki Noguchi: Michael Kratzios directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
--:-- Yuki Noguchi: Using artificial intelligence, researchers will be able to, for example, build scalable models to predict how a child's body responds to therapies, letting doctors forecast cancer progression and minimize treatment side effects.
--:-- Yuki Noguchi: The $50 million investment comes on the heels of billions in federal cuts to various health agencies involved with cancer prevention and research.
--:-- Yuki Noguchi: NPR News
--:-- Ryland Barton: This is NPR News from Washington.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Turning Point USA's college tour is returning to Utah for the first time since founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
--:-- Ryland Barton: His death at Utah Valley University galvanized followers of his right-wing conservative politics.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The event at Utah State tomorrow will feature podcaster Alex Clark, Senator Mike Lee, and Governor Spencer Cox.
--:-- Ryland Barton: President Trump's ambassador to the U.N. is criticizing Rwanda and the rebels it backs in eastern Congo.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: As NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports, that's a conflict President Trump has repeatedly said he's resolved.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is so far mostly a promise
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: That how the head of the UN peacekeeping mission Binto Keita described the situation at a UN Security Council meeting
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: There are discrepancies between the progress we see on paper and the reality we observe on the ground, which continues to be marred with violence.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: That violence is fueled by a thorny mix of competition over precious mineral resources and decades-long ethnic tensions.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: Keita says 1,000 civilians have been killed since June.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz says the Trump administration backs the U.N. peacekeeping force, and he blames M-23 rebels and the Rwandan defense forces of prolonging the suffering in eastern Congo.
--:-- Michelle Kellerman: NPR News, the State Department
--:-- Ryland Barton: The cost of home repair is rising faster than inflation, according to a new report.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Data analytics company Verisk says labor costs, especially for projects like tile flooring and bathroom remodeling, are driving the increase.
--:-- Ryland Barton: I'm Rylan Barton.
--:-- Ryland Barton: This is NPR News.
