Linda McMahon hearing; Trump and Putin; CFPB : NPR

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Today’s top stories

Linda McMahon, President Trump’s pick for secretary of education, is the latest nominee to face a confirmation hearing. Today’s hearing could be dramatic and unusual, as the president has made it clear he plans to dismantle the department she’s been nominated to lead. Here’s everything you need to know about McMahon, who led the U.S. Small Business Administration for two years under Trump’s first term and built World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) into a multi-billion-dollar business.

President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education Linda McMahon arrives to meet with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) in the Russell Senate Office Building on Dec. 9, 2024.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

• 🎧 If confirmed, McMahon’s first order of business will probably be to slim the department down further, NPR’s Jonaki Mehta tells Up First. On Monday, Elon Musk’s DOGE unit, or the Department of Government Efficiency, made severe cuts to the Department of Education’s independent research arm. Only an act of Congress could dismantle the agency entirely.
• ➡️ With an annual budget of $79 billion and over 4,000 employees, the Department of Education is one of the smallest federal agencies. Here’s a guide to what it does — and doesn’t — do.

Dozens of probationary employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had their jobs terminated this week, according to the union representing CFPB employees. The CFPB has been in Musk’s crosshairs as one of DOGE’s latest targets. His critics have pointed out a major conflict of interest, as Musk hopes to eliminate an agency that would directly regulate a new service he will soon offer on his app X. Linda Yaccarino, X’s CEO, recently announced the social media company had struck a deal with Visa to offer a mobile payments service called “X Money Account.”

• ➡️ The CFPB was created as a response to the 2008 financial crisis. Here’s what it does.
• ➡️ Trump hired Musk as a “special government employee,” a designation given to people who join the government for a short period of time typically to provide specialized expertise. Here’s what you should know about SGEs.
• ➡️ DOGE’s central tenet is to cut government spending. But there’s been little transparency and some exaggeration surrounding its claims of saving several billion dollars in less than a month, according to an NPR analysis of several public data sources.

Trump says he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after holding separate phone calls yesterday with the Russian leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I think we’re on the way to getting peace,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

• 🎧 Trump and Putin are “in sync,” NPR’s Russia correspondent Charles Maynes says. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said after the phone call that both leaders agreed it was time for the two countries to work together. Maynes says there’s a “sense of celebration” in Russia, and the markets went up this morning. Meanwhile, he says yesterday was “clearly not a good day” for Ukraine. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told NATO allies he believed it was unrealistic for Ukraine to regain its prewar borders and ruled out NATO membership for the country.

Deep dive

A court found that President Trump’s administration had not complied with an earlier court order. Experts worry about the potential of a constitutional crisis.

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Al Drago/Getty Images

President Trump has signed dozens of executive orders in less than a month in office, and courts are now pushing back. One of the central roles of U.S. federal courts is to review the executive branch’s implementation of federal law. Executive branch employees are expected to comply with court orders and existing legal roles — but that’s mostly relying on good faith and tradition, according to UCLA law professor Blake Emerson. What happens if the president ignores these court orders? Several legal experts break it down:

• ⚖️ Courts can force compliance through fines, sanctions, finding someone in contempt or even jail time. Some experts, like retired federal judge Nancy Gertner, view these options as empty threats.
• ⚖️ The U.S. Marshals Service — which is part of the Department of Justice — could enforce a judge’s order, Gertner added. But the president could direct the Justice Department not to comply.
• ⚖️ Courts ultimately have few ways to punish a president for ignoring their rulings, but Congress still exists to intervene, according to Kristin Hickman, a professor of administrative law at the University of Minnesota. However, opposition is unlikely since Republicans control the House and Senate.

Picture show

SNL’s head makeup & hair designer Louie Zakarian in New York, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

Photo by Marco Postigo Storel

Marco Storel/for NPR

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Marco Storel/for NPR

Louie Zakarian has earned 10 Emmys and 10 Hollywood Makeup Artist Hair and Stylist Guild Awards throughout his three decades at Saturday Night Live. As head of SNL’s makeup department, he and his team of about 18 designers help bring writers’ and cast members’ wild ideas to life. Zakarian figures he’s made “tens of thousands of bald caps” over the course of his career.

📷 Take a look inside Zakarian’s makeup lab and learn about the method behind the madness that created Kyle Mooney’s Baby Yoda, Will Ferrell’s devil and more.

3 things to know before you go

An infrared image of Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto, revealing another portrait underneath.

The Courtauld Institute of Art/The Courtauld Institute of Art

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The Courtauld Institute of Art/The Courtauld Institute of Art

1. A hidden painting has been revealed under one of the earliest pieces from Pablo Picasso’s iconic Blue Period, thanks to advanced X-ray and infrared imaging technology.
2. Retailers like Trader Joe’s and Kroger have begun limiting the amount of eggs shoppers can buy as prices continue to climb.
3. Here’s Johnny! The Colorado hotel that inspired The Shining is being transformed into a museum for horror buffs. (via Colorado Public Radio)

This newsletter was edited by Obed Manuel.