NPR News: 03-05-2026 4PM EST

0:00Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. In a dramatic cabinet shake, a president trumps firing Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam. Trump broke the news on Truth Social today that he planned a replacing battle DHS Secretary with Oklahoma Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullin, effective March 31st. Mullin told reporters he did not expect Trump's phone call today. The phone call got for the president who was right before the statement went out. NPR's Danielle Kurtz-Labin reports his Senate would have to confirm Mullin. The move comes after Noam had two combat of hearings on Capitol Hill this week. She has faced bipartisan criticism over how her agency handled the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, where federal agents killed two citizens. Members also grilled Noam on department spending, for example, on a luxury jet and a border security ad campaign. Trump said Noam will be the new special envoy to a security initiative, including Central and South American countries. That initiative will be announced on Saturday. Mark Wayne Mullin served in the House for a decade before becoming a senator in 2023.

1:02Prior to becoming a lawmaker, he was a business owner and mixed martial arts fighter. Danielle Kurtz-Labin and NPR news the White House. The sour of the U.S. House is set to hold a vote to limit President Trump's war powers in Iran. NPR's Clarity Saleh says the chamber's taking up the resolution a day after a similar measure was voted down in the Senate mostly along party lines. Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey and California Democrat Rokana have teamed up again to force the vote to block further military operations in Iran. Why are we going to war with Iran? This vote on Iran is not a procedural vote. It is a profoundly moral vote. The two have used a special legislative vehicle to push the vote to the floor against the objections of House GOP leaders. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said, if the effort were to be successful, it would endanger U.S. troops and trigger new threats for Americans. Since the Cold War, presidents of both parties have asserted the right to order military into battle in limited ways without authorization from Congress. Clarity Saleh and NPR news.

2:04It's day six of the Iran War, NPR's Kerry Con reports from Tel Aviv. Israel and the U.S. say they are hitting major aerial infrastructure. The Israeli military said Thursday that its Air Force dismantled an armed ballistic missile launcher near the city of Kome and an Iranian air defense system in Isfahan. Market reaction to higher oil prices earlier, the Dow tank more than a thousand points. It's now down 784 points. NPR's Rafael Namsa's investors are worried the war will affect more countries in the Middle East. And shipping traffic in the critical state of Hormuz continues to be at a standstill, with oil tankers and other vessels unable to pass through. Surging oil prices are bracing the prospect of higher inflation around the world and here in the U.S. And investors don't see a clear end to the war with Iran. Meaning global financial markets are likely to remain on edge for a while. That's Rafael Nams, its NPR. More houses are being built not for selling, but for renting, according to the National

3:07Association of Home Builders, about 7% of all new single-family houses are designed as rentals. NPR's Stephen Bussaha says more houses for rent helps home buyers too. Builder rent houses let people live in homes and neighborhoods they otherwise couldn't afford. Like Joanne Lisette, she rents a two-bedroom house in Mesa, Arizona. Home ownership has gotten so far out of the reach of most people that this trend I think is a godsend. One reason home ownership is so expensive is that there are just aren't enough houses being built. That's why Lori Goodman with the Urban Institute says building homes to rent is a win-win. So the thing about build rent is that you get homes that wouldn't have otherwise been built. That helps lower prices for both renters and home buyers. Stephen Bussaha NPR News. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says 53 medical schools across the United States have agreed to require students to complete 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education.

4:09The initiative is aimed at fighting chronic disease from which 60 percent of people in the U.S. are reported to suffer. Currently, the National Academy of Sciences recommends medical schools provide at least 25 hours of nutrition education. U.S. docs ending the day sharply lower the Dow closed down 784 points or 1.6 percent and the day at 47,954. U.S. is NPR News.