Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Today's top stories
The Trump administration faces a deadline today to seek Congressional approval for its military action in Iran. It does not appear to be seeking that approval. According to the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Congress must declare war or authorize the use of force within 60 days. If the president requests an extension, Congress has 90 days to act. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asserted that the current ceasefire doesn't count toward the 60 days. The administration plans to continue confronting Iran through the dueling blockades of the Strait of Hormuz.
- 🎧 Iranians have proposed reopening the Strait and negotiating nuclear restrictions later. President Trump convened his national security team to review the proposal, but he remains adamant that a nuclear deal must be included, NPR's Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. Alexander Gray, the former Chief of Staff at the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, says the blockade gives the U.S. "maximum leverage." Gray says the blockade is all about which side blinks or gives in first. "I think the Iranians are going to blink because they're losing 400 plus million dollars a day to the U.S. Navy's blockade," Gray says. The problem is the Trump administration has been arguing that if they just put enough military and economic pressure on Iran, Tehran would capitulate, but that hasn't happened, Ordoñez says.
The House of Representatives voted yesterday to reopen the majority of the Department of Homeland Security, ending the longest agency shutdown in U.S. history. The House passed a bill funding DHS, excluding dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The measure was approved through a voice vote on the 76th day of the shutdown. After federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in January, Democrats pulled their support for a massive bipartisan spending bill that included DHS in order to push for reforms in the way agents do their jobs.
- 🎧 The Senate passed a plan five weeks ago to fund DHS except for some immigration enforcement divisions. House Speaker Mike Johnson initially called that bill a joke, but later reached a deal with the more conservative members of his conference, who were holding out for full funding of DHS, NPR's Claudia Grisales says. Republicans have been crafting a partisan legislative vehicle known as a reconciliation bill that includes funding for immigration enforcement for the remainder of Trump's term. Initially, Johnson sided with the conservatives, but later changed his stance as reconciliation dragged on. He said now that reconciliation is moving, Republicans could also approve additional funding.
Trump has nominated Dr. Nicole Saphier to be the new surgeon general, the official responsible for public health advisories in the U.S. Saphier works at one of the nation's top cancer centers as a radiologist specializing in breast cancer. She is expected to be a more acceptable pick to Republican lawmakers, who stalled the confirmation process for the president's last nominee.
- 🎧 The surgeon general is tasked with promoting science-based measures that keep people healthy, according to NPR's Pien Huang. In February, Saphier discussed the job on her podcast, saying the main role is public health messaging. Huang describes Saphier as the originator of the Make America Healthy Again movement, before Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took it on. The slogan was actually the title of a book Saphier published in 2020. Trump's previous pick, Casey Means, faced pushback from some Republicans over her views on vaccines. She's not against all vaccines and doesn't think they cause autism. But she's also said she supports medical freedom and individuals' right to choose whether and when they want to get vaccines.
May Day demonstrations are expected to draw crowds across the U.S. today. Organizers are calling for a boycott of work, school and shopping to protest the Trump administration's policies and what activists label as a billionaire takeover of the government. The "May Day Strong" events aim to commemorate International Labor Day. These protests follow the nationwide anti-Trump movements under the "No Kings" banner, which organizers say have mobilized millions of people. Unlike Labor Day celebrations in the U.S. in September, May 1 is traditionally a day of protest.
Today's listen
Dean Roy is running for governor in Vermont at only 14 years old. His candidacy marks the first time someone under 18 has made it onto the state's general election ballot for governor. While most states require people to be at least 30 years old to run for governor, there's no age requirement to hold office in Vermont. With that in mind, Roy took it upon himself to start a movement to get more young people involved in politics. To support his cause, Roy started a new political party called "Freedom and Unity." Although he doesn't expect to win, he hopes his campaign will be the start of a life in politics. Listen to the teen explain why he decided to run for governor and what he wants to see in the future of politics.
Weekend Picks
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Movies: The Devil Wears Prada 2 reunites Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci 20 years after the beloved original. Ahead of the sequel, fashion critic Robin Givhan explains what the original film got right about the fashion industry in an interview with Morning Edition's Michel Martin.
📺 TV: The new Netflix crime comedy Big Mistakes tells the story of an offbeat family that entangles itself with the mob. The show starts frolicsome and then morphs into a farce that grows more than a little hellish, NPR critic John Powers writes.
📚 Books: Cartoonist Gemma Correll's latest graphic memoir, Anxietyland, walks readers through her brain's not-so-amusing amusement park. Grimes uses theme park rides like the Emotional Roller Coaster and the Worry-Go-Round to explain her relationship with anxiety.
🎵 Music: Olivia Rodrigo's "drop dead" has debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, marking her fourth time reaching this feat. Her album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is set to arrive in June.
🎮 Gaming: The representation of South Asians in gaming is on the rise, partly thanks to stars and developers from the diaspora. PlayStation's recent release of the roguelike short Saros, featuring British actor Rahul Kohli, is set to be a hit.
❓ Quiz: This week has seen the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool get a makeover, the president's face set to make an appearance on a commemorative item and a record-breaking run. Think you have been paying attention? Put your memory to the test.
3 things to know before you go
- Three octogenarian Austrian nuns who fled their care home and broke back into their old convent last year went to Rome this week for a general audience with Pope Leo XIV.
- J. Craig Venter, a scientist who played a critical role in sequencing the human genome, has died, his namesake research institute announced. He was 79.
- At 19, Rebecca Stuhlmiller felt her life was falling apart. She moved from Montana to Arizona on a whim, but she still felt stuck. One day, while she was sobbing behind the wheel at a stoplight, a man in the car next to her honked and gave her a thumbs-up. That small gesture from an unsung hero lifted her spirits and has stayed with her as she tries to pass that kindness on to others.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
Copyright 2026 NPR