"Live from NPR News in Washington.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is testifying before both chambers of Congress today, presenting his annual budget request for the State Department, and defending the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts starting in the Senate this morning.
It's his first public testimony since President Trump's war on Iran began,
and from the start, he was grilled on the war and a global foreign aid cuts in the face of a global health crisis, oil, and AI. In opening remarks, Rubio said American interests are paramount. "The United States government is not a charity. We are not here to play social worker. We are here to win.
We are here to win on behalf of the American people, and on behalf of the national interest, to win for our country,
“to win for the people of America, to win for the things that are important for our future,”
and that's what we exist to do." Later, he will testify before a house committee. The primarys are being held in six states today, including California. In Los Angeles, voters go to the polls to choose a mayor, the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, is facing 13 other candidates,
including former reality TV star Spencer Pratt.
Steve Futterman has more. "Spincer Pratt's campaign has focused on last year's deadly Palacid's fire, a fire that destroyed his home. He's accused Bass of mishandling the crisis." While our lives were literally burning to the ground,
Mayor Karen Bass was in Ghana. Bass was in Ghana as part of the U.S. delegation, attending the inauguration for that country's new president. However, the optics have hampered her campaign. "It was one of the worst moments of my life to not be here when my city needed me."
Bass has questioned Pratt's qualifications. "I'm not sure he's ever had a job other than reality TV." "Bass Pratt and City Councilwoman Nithia Romano are in a tight three-way race,
the top two advanced to November's general election.
For MPR News, I'm Steve Futterman, in Los Angeles." "States have only a few months before the Trump administration's new federal work requirements for people on Medicaid or set to take effect. And Pierre Salina Simmons-Duffin has more." "The Republicans' big, beautiful Bill Act passed last year,
used major cuts to Medicaid to fund President Trump's policy priorities.
“A key way to get the cost of Medicaid down is to limit who can be on the public health plan."”
Right now, all but a few states allow any low income adult to enroll. As of January, all of those adults from age 19 to 64 will have to prove that they are working or are exempt from the requirement. The Department of Health and Human Services has now published the details states need to set up the new system in a document that's nearly 400 pages long.
Critics of the new rule say it takes a narrow view of medical exemptions, which could lead to many people with complicated health needs becoming uninsured. Salina Simmons-Duffin and Pierre News, Washington." "You're listening to NPR News." Census workers are now knocking on doors for a field test of the 2030 census
in areas of Alabama and South Carolina. As Piers Hansi LaWan reports, this test is also expected to involve postal service workers. Households in parts of the Huntsville, Alabama and Spartanburg, South Carolina, who haven't filled out an online survey yet, may get a knock their door now through August.
This Census Bureau says visits may take place during the day or evening, as late as 9pm local time. The Trump administration made last minute changes to the 2026 census test to allow letter carriers from the U.S. Postal Service to help conduct interviews. As Trump's skepticism from Census Watchers, who cited past study from the government
account of Billy Office, it found using U.S.P.S. workers would not be cost-effective. U.S.P.S. is financial support of NPR. Among other topics, the survey for the 2026 census test asked people about their U.S. citizenship status. Research shows that, slightly to hurt the accuracy of census numbers,
used to redistribute political representation and federal funding. On Zee LaWan and Pierre News. A federal judge is allowing a non-profit group in Washington, D.C. to continue to display a flag with 8647 on it, saying it was difficult to fathom that a reasonable observer would see it as a threat.
“This suit, which comes after the Secret Service investigated the non-profit,”
is unrelated to the Justice Department's criminal case against former FBI director James Kome for posting a photo of sea shells with 8647 on it, saying it was a threat to President Trump. 86 is slang for a cancel something, and Trump is the 47th President. Austria's trading higher this hour that I was up 91 points.
I'm Janine Herbst NPR News in Washington. New shows, new music, new movies, keeping up with pop culture sometimes feels like a full-time job. Thankfully, over at pop culture happy-hour, it's literally our job. We break down what's actually worth watching, listening to, and pretending you already knew about. So the next time someone says, "Did you see that?"
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