NPR News: 03-23-2026 7PM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Hundreds of thousands of Homeland Security employees have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month. That includes TSA agents creating long lines at airports. President Trump rejected the latest offer, funding DHS, except for immigration operations that have become central to the dispute. Now he's demanding that senators also approve what he calls the Save America Act, which requires proof of citizenship to vote and has essentially no chance of passing Congress before lawmakers go on vacation next week. NPR's Sam Greenglass explains. Trump has continued to amplify false claims about widespread non-citizen voting. And this was his message to senators today. You don't have to take a fast vote. Don't worry about Easter going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus, OK? Trump is making this argument that proof of citizenship is homeland security, and so that's why the voting bill and DHS funding should be, in his words, welded together. NPR's Sam Greenglass reporting. The Census Bureau says it getting ready to conduct a field test for the 2030 census starting in May The plan has its skeptics NPR Hansi Lo Wong reports this year census test is expected to involve letter carriers from the U Postal Service The Census Bureau says it's preparing to ask households in parts of Alabama and South Carolina to fill out an online survey that's not related to the actual census. Households that don't may be interviewed in person starting in June by census workers or letter carriers. It's the kind of move that a government accountability office study in 2011 said would not be cost effective. This test census asks, is this person a citizen of the United States? Research shows that's likely to hurt the accuracy of numbers used to redistribute political representation and federal funding. This test comes as the Trump administration signals in a court filing that it may soon formally propose to exclude U.S. residents without legal status from counts that the 14th Amendment says must include the, quote, whole number of persons in each state. Hansi Luang, NPR News. The Department of Education has opened two new investigations into Harvard University. NPR's Alyssa Nadwerny reports that one is about admissions and the second is about anti-Semitism complaints on campus. The latest investigations by the Trump administration against Harvard come just days after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Ivy League school alleging that the university failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students The administration also sued the school over admissions records in a separate case In a statement the university says that Harvard complies with the law in its admissions practices and is reviewing the two new investigations which it says target Harvard for, quote, refusal to surrender our independence and constitutional rights. Alyssa Nadwani, NPR News. Stocks rose today after President Trump said the U.S. has talked with Iran about a possible end to their war. The S&P 500 rallied more than one percent. This is NPR News. The Defense Department has revised its media policy. It's an attempt to comply with a court ruling last week that struck down the Pentagon's requirement that journalists not seek information the department hasn't authorized for public release. Under the new rules, reporters will be required to have an official escort inside the building, and the Pentagon is closing the workspace used by reporters inside the building, promising to set up a new area in an annex. Young people with cannabis use disorder are more likely to be diagnosed with psychiatric disorders compared with those who use other drugs, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins University. Scott Mazzioni with member station WYPR has more The study found young people with cannabis use disorder were 52 more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and 30 more prone to major depression compared to those with other substance use disorders The results show the nuance of cannabis use on the developing brain, considering adults with cannabis use disorder are significantly less likely to develop mental illnesses. Johannes Truel is a scientist who worked on the study. What that suggests is there is a critical window potentially for negative consequences to accumulate for young people. Cannabis is currently legal for people over 21 in 24 states. For NPR News, I'm Scott Mazzioni in Baltimore. No perfect NCAA men's college basketball brackets remain among the millions of entries in the ESPN and NCAA bracket challenges. The end came when Tennessee beat Virginia yesterday. ESPN had 26.5 million entries, but hundreds of perfect brackets remain in the women's tournament. This is NPR News. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.