NPR News: 04-02-2026 8PM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. President Trump says Attorney General Pam Bondi is leaving her post. He says Bondi will transition to the private sector and that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will serve as Acting Attorney General. Bondi made major changes to the Justice Department, as NPR's Ryan Lucas explains. Traditionally, the Justice Department has been independent to a degree from the White House. That's particularly true when it comes to investigations. And that's to try to insulate those from partisan politics. Bondi tossed that independence out the window. The Department has targeted the President's perceived enemies. And then more broadly, the past 14 months have just been an incredibly chaotic time at the Justice Department Cup. Career prosecutors and FBI officials have been fired. Entire sections of the Department have been gutted. And the credibility of the Department before the courts has suffered as well. NPR's Ryan Lucas reporting. The Attorney's General of California, New York and Massachusetts sent a letter to Trump officials today to voice concerns over the administration's treatment of unaccompanied migrant children who are pregnant. Citing NPR reporting the AG's worry the administration is attempting to restrict the girl's access to abortion, Mark Betancourt with the California Newsroom reports. The letter was sent by California Attorney General Rob Bonta in the wake of a six-month long investigation by NPR member stations. The story exposed a federal directive to send pregnant migrant children to a single group home in South Texas beginning last July. Child welfare advocates say the move was intended to detain the pregnant girls in a state where abortion is illegal. A Biden-era rule requires the government to provide unaccompanied children access to abortion services, but the administration is currently trying to remove that rule. The Attorney's General say the policy change could keep the girls from getting, quote, life or health saving abortion care. For NPR News, I'm Mark Betancourt. The Trump administration is designating microplastics and pharmaceuticals as contaminants in the nation's drinking water. NPR's Will Stone has more. The Environmental Protection Agency is placing microplastics and pharmaceuticals on what's known as the contaminant candidate list alongside other chemicals like PFAS. The list gets updated every five years. The action doesn't require the agency to move forward with regulations, though it could set the stage. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said it was a landmark step, but some environmental groups pushed back, saying the administration is doing this even as it works to unravel regulations on chemicals in the environment. The administration also said it would be investing more than $140 million in a research effort to study microplastics in the human body. Will Stone, NPR News. Britain is accusing Iran of holding the global economy hostage as diplomats from over 40 countries, discussed ways to press Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. was absent from the virtual meeting. President Trump says securing the waterway is not the responsibility of the U.S. French President Emmanuel Macron says reopening the Strait by force is unrealistic. This is NPR News. President Trump's new White House ballroom has gotten final approval from a key commission. This comes after a federal judge ordered a halt to construction unless Congress approves the project. The spokesperson for the National Capital Planning Commission says the agency is moving ahead with the vote because the judge's ruling affects construction activities, not planning. Trump says the $400 million ballroom will be complete before his term ends in 2029. Uganda's Law Society reports the first group of migrants deported from the U.S. to Uganda have arrived today. Michael Koloki has more. The Law Society did not have any details about the detainees or their nationalities, but called to the plan to receive U.S. deportees, quote, undignified, harrowing and dehumanizing. Last year, Uganda's government announced it signed a deal with Washington agreeing to accept deported migrants from the U.S. with a preference for those of African origin. Over the past year, the U.S. has paid millions to deport detainees to South Sudan, Rwanda, Iswatini and Ghana. Uganda's Law Society says it will challenge the legality of the country, accepting the U.S. deportees, and raised questions about the private interests who will profit from the agreement. The Ugandan government is yet to respond. For NPR News, I'm Michael Koloki in Nairobi. A company in eastern China is using an AI-powered machine to sort clothes and boost recycling. The fast sort textile machine was named one of Time magazine's best inventions of 2025. The equipment can sort more than 200 pounds of clothes in two to three minutes. It takes one worker around four hours to do the same thing. This is NPR News from Washington.