FAA cuts off air traffic; SNAP provision faces opposition: NPR

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Today’s most important news

Starting today, the Federal Aviation Administration will reduce air traffic by 10% at several of the busiest airports. The move is intended to help keep the country’s airspace safe as the agency deals with a shortage of air traffic controllers and a government shutdown. Airlines have begun canceling flights to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) orders.

• 🎧 The closure affects air traffic controllerswho are required to work without pay. says NPR’s Joel Rose arrives first There is some speculation that the decrease in air traffic is Mostly a public relations or political move Related to ending the lockdown. The air traffic control system was working fairly well during the shutdown until the end of last week, when staffing shortages occurred at dozens of facilities simultaneously. Travelers have expressed concern about what could happen if their flights are canceled due to the change made by the FAA.

The Trump administration is appealing a court decision ordering it to restore full funding for SNAP benefits by today. The government stated earlier that it would restore partial benefits in response to a previous decision. In a new decision issued yesterday, US District Judge John McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island ruled that the government failed to consider the harm to individuals who depend on those benefits.

• 🎧 The emergency fund to keep SNAP going was only enough to make partial payments of benefits, McConnell said The administration will need to utilize funds from customs revenues. The deadline set by the judge is for the government to distribute the money to the states, but even if it could, NPR’s Tovia Smith says, it’s hard to imagine the money could reach individuals so quickly. The administration previously stated that reducing benefits is a complex process that could take weeks to months, and is unclear Whether this process now needs to be reversed remains to be seen.

President Trump’s allies are raising concerns that he is spending too much time focusing on the rest of the world and not enough on domestic issues. The president has been nurturing international relations, from currently hosting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House to last night’s dinner with leaders from Central Asia. Earlier, he also threatened to launch strikes against Nigeria. These actions occurred during the same week that the government shutdown became the longest in history.

• 🎧 The election results also signaled the possibility of Trump losing his edge on the economy. President Approval rates are also lowNPR’s Franco Ordonez says. Among Trump’s allies, Vice President J.D. Vance said Republicans need to focus on what’s happening on the home front while commenting on Democratic victories at the ballot box. The White House told Ordonez that there will be more economic focus on the United States, pointing to yesterday’s announcement of lower prices for obesity medications.

Deep dive

Through the investigation, NPR explored the question of how a person’s credit history affects auto insurance costs, as well as why their credit history is important to insurance companies. After examining data from Quadrant Information Services, striking differences in auto insurance rates between drivers with poor credit and those with excellent credit were found, often resulting in thousands of dollars in annual insurance premiums.

• 🚗 Insurers and industry groups have advocated using credit history to help determine insurance premiums. They say it’s a strong indicator of whether a driver will sustain an insured loss.
• 🚗 Consumer advocates point out that credit scores are consistently lower for lower-income Americans and people of color.
• 🚗 Will Guzzardi, a Democratic lawmaker who represents Chicago’s mostly Latino population in the Illinois state legislature, has been working on auto insurance fairness for about two years. His efforts include introducing a bill that would require insurance companies to prove that their practices do not harm any policyholders based on race, gender or other factors.

Find comparisons on how your credit score affects insurance premiums in your zip code here.

Weekend picks

Check what NPR Watch, read and listen this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Sydney Sweeney plays Christy Martin, who was considered the most successful female boxer of the 1990s. Christy. The film highlights her rise to fame and addresses the emotional and physical abuse she suffered from her then-husband.

📺 TV: Series It’s all her fault The film revolves around a mother, played by Sarah Snook, who is desperately trying to locate her 5-year-old son. As the show progresses, flashbacks also reveal parts of the characters’ past.

📚 Books: Memoirs of Palestinian researcher Tariq Baqouni Fire in every directionexplores themes of queer identity, family history, and political awakening. Plus six other books released this week.

🎵 Music: At Rosalia’s LuxExplores the classics of symphonic voice and opera singing. She says her goal for the album is to reconcile her desire to make music that is fun and challenges you.

🎭Theatre: The pilot program makes it possible for original Broadway shows that have performed poorly to be adapted into student theater productions. Listen to these students Getting ready for opening night From one of the offers.

🍽️ Food: Cambodian-American chef Nate Yuen, who was born in a refugee camp, has released her first cookbook, My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook. She also shared a recipe for kroeung, an aromatic herbal paste Morning edition.

❓ Test: Yay! This week I got an “almost perfect” 9/10! Now it is Your turn to get an impressive score.

3 things you should know before you go

1. Sean Charles Dunn, the man who was charged with assault for throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal officer in Washington, D.C., has been found not guilty. The case became a symbol of resistance to Trump’s federal surge in the city.
2. NPR’s “Word of the Week” is “Honestly,” which has seen an increase in popularity online and in conversations in recent years. Here’s how the word evolved.
3. Tesla shareholders approved a conditional pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could unlock up to $1 trillion in stock if the company meets specific criteria, according to preliminary results of the annual shareholder meeting.

This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.