FAA reduces air traffic; SNAP ruling faces backlash: NPR

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Today’s top stories

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

• 🎧 The shutdown is taking its toll on air traffic controllerswho are obliged to work without pay. NPR’s Joel Rose narrates Up first that there is some speculation about a reduction in air traffic usually a PR or political move related to ending the shutdown. The air traffic control system functioned reasonably well during the shutdown until last weekend, when staffing shortages emerged at dozens of facilities simultaneously. Travelers have expressed concerns about what could happen if their flights are canceled due to the FAA’s change.

The Trump administration is appealing a court ruling that orders it to restore full funding for SNAP benefits by today. The government previously stated that it would restore partial benefits following an earlier decision. In one made a new decision yesterdayU.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ruled. in Rhode Island that the government has failed to consider the harm to individuals who rely on these benefits.

• 🎧 The emergency fund to keep SNAP running was only enough to pay out partial benefits, McConnell said the administration should tap money from customs revenues. The deadline the judge set is for the government to distribute the money to the states, but even if that works, NPR’s Tovia Smith says it’s hard to imagine the funds could reach individuals so quickly. The administration has previously stated that cutting benefits is a complicated process that could take weeks or months, and that is unclear whether that process should now be undone.

President Trump’s allies are expressing concern that he is spending too much time on the rest of the world and not enough on domestic issues. The president is maintaining international relations, from today’s reception of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary at the White House to a dinner last night with leaders from Central Asia. He also previously threatened attacks on Nigeria. These actions occurred the same week that the government shutdown became the longest in history.

• 🎧 The election results have also indicated that Trump may be losing his lead on the economy. The president’s Approval ratings are also lowsays NPR’s Franco Ordoñez. Among Trump’s allies, Vice President JD Vance said Republicans should focus on what’s happening on the home front while commenting on Democratic victories at the ballot box. The White House told Ordoñez that there will be more economic focus on the US, citing yesterday’s announcing lower prices for obesity drugs.

Deep dive

Through a study, NPR explored how a person’s credit history affects car insurance costs, and why their credit history is important to insurance companies. After examining data from Quadrant Information Services, Startling differences in car insurance rates were found between drivers with bad credit and drivers with excellent credit, often resulting in thousands of dollars in annual premiums.

• 🚗 Insurance companies and industry groups defended the use of credit history to help determine premiums. They say it’s a powerful indicator of whether a driver will have 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 mostly Latino Chicagoans in the Illinois state legislature, has been working on auto insurance fairness for about two years. His efforts included introducing a bill that would require insurers to prove that their practices do not harm any policyholder based on race, gender or other factors.

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

Weekend choices

Look what NPR is watching, reading and listening this weekend to:

🍿 Movies: Sydney Sweeney stars as Christy Martin, considered the most successful female boxer of the 1990s Christy. The film highlights her rise to fame and discusses the emotional and physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her then-husband.

📺TV: The miniseries All her fault follows a mother, played by Sarah Snook, as she desperately tries to find her 5-year-old son. As the show progresses, flashbacks also reveal parts of many of the characters’ pasts.

📚 Books: memoirs of Palestinian scholar Tareq Baconi, Fire in every directionexplores themes of queer identity, family history and political awakening. Plus, six other books released this week.

🎵 Music: To Rosalia Luxshe explores the classics of symphonic sound and opera singing. She says her goal for the album is to reconcile her desire to make music that is both enjoyable and challenging.

🎭 Theater: A pilot program allows original Broadway shows that have underperformed to be created adapted into student theater productions. Listen to these students are preparing for their opening night from one of the shows.

🍽️ Food: Born in a refugee camp, Cambodian-American chef Nite Yun has released her debut cookbook, My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook. She also shared a recipe for kroeunga fragrant herbal paste, with Morning edition.

❓ Quiz: Yes! This week I got an ‘almost perfect’ 9/10! Now it is your turn to get an impressive score.

3 things you need to know before you go

1. Sean Charles Dunn, the man charged with assault for throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal officer in Washington DC, 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 “honest,” which has seen a surge in popularity online and in conversation in recent years. Here it is how the word evolved.
3. Tesla shareholders have done just that approved a conditional pay package for CEO Elon Musk could free up to $1 trillion in shares if the company meets specific criteria, according to preliminary results from its annual shareholder meeting.

This newsletter has been edited by Yvonne Dennis.