--:-- [Sound of a conversation starting]
--:-- Martinez: Hey, Martinez, do you have your headphones on? We need to do pre-production. Where are you?
--:-- Martinez: Oh, thanks for joining us. Yeah, today not great. What's happening? My head feels like it's a million pounds. Is it the allergies or do you have something more than that?
--:-- Leila Fadel: No, it's allergies, yeah.
--:-- Martinez: Are you okay to host? Well, we kind of don't have a choice. We're the only two hosts.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's true. I mean, I can do it by myself. I've always wanted it to be my show. I wouldn't want to put America through that, though. Even in my weakened condition.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: The Federal Reserve is warning that inflation is coming as it held interest rates steady. Clearly some of it, a good part of it, is coming from tariffs. President Trump doesn't like it. He wants the Fed to lower rates.
--:-- Martinez: I'm Leila Fadel. That's A. Martinez. And this is Up First from NPR News. A federal judge says Doge probably terrorized people when they forced their way into the U.S. Institute of Peace. But while she found the way American citizens were treated offensive, she denied a request to stop the dismantling of the agency. We tell you why.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: And Israel launched a new ground invasion into Gaza after breaking the ceasefire with Hamas. What are Israel's goals and what does it mean for the Palestinian people caught in the middle? Stay with us.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: We've got all the news you need to start your day. This message comes from BetterHelp. President Fernando Madeira describes how BetterHelp Online Therapy has helped him.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? It's going to be there and they're going to listen to me. And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural. I love it.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from Lisa. Lisa mattresses are meticulously designed and assembled in the USA for exceptional quality, and each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind. Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial.
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--:-- Leila Fadel: Visit Lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR. That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
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--:-- Leila Fadel: Support for NPR and the following message come from Pete and Jerry's Eggs. Their new organic pasture-raised eggs are the next level of commitment to healthy hens, healthy eggs, and a healthy planet.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: These hens roam outside in nature with over 108 square feet of pasture each and enjoy a USDA-certified organic diet with no GMOs, added hormones, or synthetic pesticides. Delicious, ethical, healthy eggs, as nature intended. Learn more at PeteAndJerrys.com.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: The Federal Reserve is warning that President Trump's new tariffs could hurt the U.S. economy. The central bank on Wednesday cut its economic growth forecast and raised its expectations for inflation.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs are playing a role in inflation. Clearly some of it, a good part of it, is coming from tariffs. President Trump said later on social media that the Fed, an independent agency, should lower rates as tariffs set in.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR financial correspondent Maria Aspin joins us now to explain.
--:-- Maria Aspin: So Maria, President Trump often called on Jerome Powell to lower rates in his first term. So why then and why now?
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: Well, the Fed's interest rates set the bar for what consumers pay for all kinds of loans. cars, credit cards, business loans, and lower rates mean, in general, lower loan prices for consumers.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: But yesterday the Fed did exactly what had been expected It held interest rates steady And it also signaled that it still on track to cut interest rates twice later this year
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: That said, a lot has changed in the last several weeks. President Trump has been implementing a very aggressive and very chaotic trade policy with these on-again, off-again tariffs against some of the country's largest trading partners.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: We've seen all this uncertainty hit consumers and businesses and stock market investors. And now the Fed is also saying that, yeah, it's dealing with more uncertainty around the economic outlook.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: The Fed isn't taking any major action yet, but it did say yesterday it's now expecting the economy to grow more slowly this year than it previously projected and inflation to grow faster.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: But why isn't the Fed taking more action? It says the underlying economy is still strong. Unemployment remains low and prices are still relatively stable compared to a couple of years ago.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: This is Chair Powell yesterday. We will be watching very carefully for signs of weakness in the real data. Of course we will. But given where we are, we think our policy is in a good place to react to what comes.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: And we think that the right thing to do is to wait here for greater clarity about what the economy is doing. Now, the Fed's job is to take the long-term view and to be steady.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: That becomes even more important in an uncertain environment. And Powell is also trying to maintain the Fed's independence from the White House at a time when President Trump wants to exert more control over independent agencies.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: So Powell is threading this needle of doing what's best for the overall economy without perhaps provoking the White House to take action against him or the Fed.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: Now, despite the Fed's warnings about the economy, investors seem pretty confident the Dow closed up more than actually almost 400 points.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: So what has reassured investors so much? Powell was pretty mild in his comments overall, and that's kind of his job.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: As you know, A, some of the market sell-off we saw last week started when President Trump said he couldn't rule out a recession amid a lot of warnings about the economic damage his tariffs could do.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: And the argument Trump is making is that tariffs will be good for the U.S. long term, and that will be worth any shorter-term pain. But most people don't really want to experience any pain, even if it does turn out to be shorter-term.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Maria Aspin: So when Powell emphasized yesterday that the U.S. economy is strong and prices aren't soaring up too much yet, at least for the day, that was a pretty reassuring message.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: All right. That's NPR's Maria Aspin. Thanks a lot. Thank you.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has denied a request to block the Department of Government Efficiency's takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace. That's despite the fact that the judge has serious concerns about the tactics Doge used to force its way into USIP.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas was at the federal courthouse yesterday in Washington. So, Ryan, all this stems from a lawsuit that was filed by several members of the USIP board.
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Right. Five members of the USIP board filed this lawsuit overnight Tuesday. The court held a hearing on it Wednesday afternoon. So that gives you a sense of the urgency here.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: What the lawsuit argues is that the USIP board members were unlawfully removed from their positions by President Trump.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: They say that USIP is an independent nonprofit think tank created and funded by Congress. So it's not a part of the executive branch, they say.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: The board members who are suing, they want to be reinstated. They want to stop the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Institute and its operations.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Now, at this hearing, what they were asking the judge to do was to temporarily block Doge's takeover of USIP, to get Doge out of the Institute and its systems, and to get the board members back in.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Yeah and the judge denied that request So what was her reasoning Well U District Judge Beryl Howell said that there was confusion in this complaint itself in the lawsuit
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: She also pointed out that a temporary restraining order which is the specific ask that was being made yesterday is really an extraordinary step
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: There are certain thresholds, legal thresholds, that have to be met for a court to agree to take that step. And what Howell said was that a couple of those thresholds just weren't met, including the likelihood of this lawsuit to succeed on the merits.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: So she declined to block Doge's takeover. For now, Doge will be allowed to remain in control of the U.S. Institute of Peace for the time being as the court continues to consider this lawsuit.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: But still, Howell made very clear at this hearing that she had very serious concerns about Doge and how it had gone about gaining access to USIP.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Yeah, the Doge staff went into that building with the help of D.C. police. I mean, is that what the judge was concerned about? Is that what she was talking about?
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Yes, but it wasn't just that. Two FBI agents also made a house call to the head of USIP security over the weekend to question him.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: The lawsuit also alleges that FBI agents threatened a criminal investigation, that the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office also threatened a criminal investigation.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: I'll say prosecutors didn't dispute that at yesterday's hearing. And then you also have, as you said, armed D.C. police officers showing up at USIP and escorting senior staff from the building.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: That includes the head of the institute, who's a former ambassador who served in multiple administrations, both Democratic and Republican.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Judge Howell said that she was, quote unquote, here, very offended by how Doge has operated at USIP, by how it treated American citizens, as the judge said, just trying to do their job.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: She said that those actions were probably terrorizing for folks at USIP, and she asked, why act like that? Why was it just because Doge was in a rush?
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Well, there's a lot of tension between the courts and the Trump administration, and this case is a part of that.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Now, this ruling went the administration's way, but a lot of court rulings in the lawsuits challenging administration policies have not.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: That's right. There are a lot of cases out there right now challenging administration policies. Some of those cases are expected to end up at the Supreme Court.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: The president and his allies have been lashing out at judges who have ruled against the administration. They've called for judges to be impeached.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement this week pushing back on that.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: Now, judges always say that they rule on the facts in the law that are before them in a given case. And look, I was in court last week when Judge Howell blocked a Trump order targeting a law firm.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Ryan Lucas: And then yesterday, same judge, Judge Howell looked at the facts and the law in the USIP case and declined to block Doge's actions at USIP.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: All right, that's NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thanks.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Israel has launched a new ground invasion into Gaza. That's expanding what it says is a new offensive in the enclave after it broke the nearly two-month-long ceasefire with Hamas.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: On Tuesday, there were a series of airstrikes that killed more than 400 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: We're joined now by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Kat, so what can you tell us about the ground invasion and what's happening?
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: So Israel is calling this a, quote, targeted ground operation into central and southern Gaza. But we've heard that language from the Israeli military before.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: It was used a lot in Gaza before the ceasefire, and that invasion caused widespread devastation and destruction and killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to health officials there.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: The Israeli military said its aim with this ground invasion is to expand what it calls the quote security perimeter that separates Gaza from southern Israel.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Israel has also sent troops back into areas that they had retreated from during the ceasefire, like the Netzerim corridor.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: That a large strip of land that divides Gaza north and south Early on in the war Israel created that corridor and then closed passage for Palestinians between the north and south for more than a year
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Just this morning it partially closed passage again Now, what have you been hearing from Palestinians living in Gaza and the situation around them?
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Yeah, I mean, people are worried and scared. Many had just started trying to pick up what they could of their lives during that eight weeks of relative calm.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: And they're now shocked to be back in the war with airstrikes and evacuation orders again.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: You know, it's important to remember that Israel has been blocking all aid, including electricity, into Gaza for more than two weeks now, trying to pressure Hamas into accepting a new ceasefire deal on different terms than were agreed to back in January.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: And there are still ongoing Israeli airstrikes. At least 70 people were killed yesterday, according to Gaza's civil defense, and more were reported overnight.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: Our producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, spoke to one woman in Gaza City. She's a grandma named Um Saifahora.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: She says her son and his whole family were killed earlier in the war, and now the building she was staying in with three of her grandchildren was damaged in these strikes.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: You can hear the pain and anger in her voice there. She said this is a calamity. We can't take it anymore.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: What are Israeli government officials saying? Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz put out a video statement yesterday addressing it to Gaza residents.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: He spoke in Hebrew with Arabic subtitles. And he told them that this is their, quote, final warning, saying that all the hostages must be released and Hamas must be removed from power.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: He said, what comes next will be much harsher and you will bear the full consequences. He went on to say that Israel will act, quote, with force beyond anything you have ever seen.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: OK, and how did Hamas respond? Well, Hamas has not yet responded militarily.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: In a statement on the militant group's telegram last night, it says it holds Israel, quote, fully responsible for the repercussions of this ground invasion.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Kat Lonsdorf: And it reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire agreement, making it clear that Palestinians will not leave Gaza voluntarily or otherwise.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: All right. That's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Kat, thank you very much for reporting on this.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Thanks so much.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's Up First for Thursday, March 20th. I'm E. Martinez. And I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: The NPR app lets you keep public radio in your pocket. You'll find a mix of local, national, and international news, plus the best podcasts from the NPR network.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Download the NPR app in your app store today.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Rafael Nam, Gerry Holmes, Russell Lewis, Alice Woelfle and Mohamad ElBardicy.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Destinee Adams and Christopher Thomas.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: We get engineering support from Tom Marchitto, and our technical director is Stacey Abbott.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from EasyCater, a business tool for food, helping organizations order food for meetings and events from favorite restaurants, set up meal programs for their employees, and manage food spend all in one place at easycater.com.
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--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from KeyBank. You should never feel like you're leaving business decisions to chance. Try a banking relationship that helps you turn industry insight into industry advantage.
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--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from the Nature Conservancy. Nature is common ground for everyone, and uniting to protect nature can help solve today's challenges and create a thriving tomorrow for future generations.
--:-- [Sound of a brief pause]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Discover why at nature.org slash NPR.
