Epstein Documents Dump, Government Reopens, Affordable Care Act Limbo

0:02A review of documents from Jeffrey Epstein revealed more than 1 ,000 references to Donald Trump. In the last years of his life, the convicted sex offender offered memories and opinions of the president. So what do they add up to? I mean, Martinez, that is Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News. Now that the government shutdown is over, Democrats hope to prevail in a vote over health insurance subsidies. How, if at all, did 43 days of pain shift the political landscape? One thing that has not changed yet is the premiums people pay. A Missouri woman tells our correspondent her premium is rising by almost$1 ,000.

0:40And do you have an extra$1 ,000 a month? No. No, I really don't. No. What would it cost to help millions of people like this? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

0:58This message comes from BetterHelp. President Fernando Madeira describes how BetterHelp Online Therapy has helped him. For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? It's going to be there and they're going to listen to me. And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural. I love it. To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10 % off your first month. This message comes from Superhuman, the AI productivity suite that gives you superpowers everywhere you work. With Grammarly, Mail, and Coda coming together, you get proactive help across your workflow so you can outsmart the chaos.

1:43Experience AI that proactively helps you go from to-do to done faster. Unleash your superhuman potential today. Learn more at superhuman.com slash podcast. That's superhuman.com slash podcast. What do 23 ,000 documents reveal about Jeffrey Epstein and President Trump? The House Oversight Committee made the documents public. Democrats and Republicans, though, differ on what the documents say about Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was a friend to the rich and famous and an alleged sex trafficker. Now, NPR has made its own review, and the documents show that in the last years of his life, Epstein paid a lot of attention to his former friend who became president.

2:23NPR's Stephen Fowler has been reading. Stephen, good morning. Good morning. I want to make clear what these documents are. Are these the Epstein files that a lot of people in both parties seem to want? Well, no. There is a fight over releasing everything the Justice Department has on Epstein, but this is a separate set of documents that Congress obtained from Epstein's estate. They came out in two different bunches yesterday. Democrats highlighted a few emails to and from Epstein that mentioned Trump. One was a suggestion from author Michael Wolff in 2015 that Epstein should let Trump, quote, hang himself answering questions about the relationship.

3:02Or if it really looks like Trump could win, quote, you could save him generating a debt. Republicans then released all of the latest things they'd received from the estate. Things like court records, financial documents, books, text messages, and emails. A few of us spent the day reading those. And Steve, it was surprising how many more pages mentioned Trump. easily more than a thousand references among the pages we reviewed. Uh, what sort of references? Well, Epstein said he had photos of Trump with girls in bikinis in his kitchen, Trump, quote, almost walking through the door, leaving his nose print on the glass as women were swimming in the pool, reference to a girlfriend that, quote, after two years I gave to Donald.

3:43But most of these emails were obsessively tracking Trump's ascent to the presidency from 2015 to 2018. Epstein mocked Trump. He chronicled the various scandals. There's even a 2017 message where Epstein wrote to former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers that, quote, I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump, and also, quote, not one decent cell in his body. The reference to Lawrence Summers there, a reminder that Epstein knew a lot of rich and famous and powerful people in both political parties, but a lot of references to Trump. Has the president said much about that? Well, the president posted on his Truth Social and has said the whole time that any Epstein-related questions are a hoax.

4:23White House spokesman Caroline Levitt said these emails released by Democrats prove, quote, absolutely nothing other than the fact President Trump did nothing wrong. And Steve, it did little to change the push in the House to get more answers about Epstein. Okay, so those are the Epstein files in possession of the House. Lots of references to the president. What about those other files that you mentioned? I mean, that is an effort of a few Republicans and Democrats to get the Justice Department to release all unclassified files around the life and death of Epstein, who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.

4:58House Speaker Mike Johnson has been opposed to this effort. Just last night, he said the House oversight subpoena process has been a, quote, treasure trove of helpful information about Epstein. But now that Democrat Adelida Garhobo was sworn in after a more than seven-week delay, that means there's 218 members who've signed the discharge petition, which will force a floor vote on the Epstein Files bill. Once it gets to the floor, potentially next week it's expected to pass the House. Some Republican supporters predict even more of their colleagues will join and vote for the measure. To have any force, though, it would need to pass the Senate and have Trump sign it, which, given how much Trump's tried to silence any discussion on the Epstein Files, seems unlikely.

5:35NPR Stephen Fowler, thanks for your reporting and reading. Thank you.

5:47We can expect heavy traffic during the morning rush today in Washington, D.C. In other cities, expect the parking lots at federal buildings to fill up. That's because hundreds of thousands of federal workers are ending their furloughs after Congress voted to reopen the government. A debate over health insurance subsidies continues. So let's begin our coverage with NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt. Barbara, good morning. Good morning, Steve. What, if anything, did we get out of a 43-day shutdown? Well, not a whole lot. This bill funds some agencies through the end of next September, notably funds SNAP, which provides food assistance to nearly one in eight Americans.

6:24The bill includes measures that reverses some layoffs the Trump administration imposed during the shutdown, provides back pay for federal employees, and puts in some protections against further layoffs. But the central issue underlying the entire shutdown, the reason that most Democrats didn't vote over a month ago to fund the government in the first place, did not get addressed. And that's the extensions of the Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Which we've heard a lot about from Democrats on this program and elsewhere. I was just watching a video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is furious about what she sees as cowardice, by the Senate Democrats who broke with their party and decided to make this deal.

7:05Fierce criticism. What is the reasoning of the people who decided to end the shutdown, though? I think it came down to acknowledging that the cost of the shutdown was very high and there was no end in sight. You know, let's talk about the realities on the ground here. real impacts on people, tens of millions of Americans not getting the food aid they rely on, air traffic controllers, TSA agents, millions of federal workers going without pay. From the beginning, Senate Democrats said they would hold out on voting to fund the government until Republicans came to the table to negotiate on those subsidies.

7:38Senate Republicans repeatedly said they're open to that, but only after the government was funded, not before. And this is all taking place at a time when the Democratic base is really calling for a strong opposition party. You know, I hear a lot from Democrats about wanting to see the party fight back against the Trump administration. And when you're in the minority, there's not a whole lot you can do. Trying to use the shutdown as some form of leverage is one of the things that the party in the minority can do. But at the end of the day, it just didn't work. Republicans weren't budging. Okay, you told me that Republicans say they are open to extending the ACA subsidies after the government has reopened, which it now is.

8:16But I know there's also a lot of Republicans who are skeptical of the whole idea. So is it a win for Democrats to get an assured vote on this in the Senate, at least? Well, many Democrats don't think so. You know, the result is an end to the shutdown that doesn't address this core demand. And Democrats are left kind of defending the handshake agreement that they once said was insufficient. Not to mention, even if a bill addressing the subsidies passes the Senate, it still needs to go to the House. And getting it to pass in the House is another kettle of fish. So, you know, I've heard a lot of critics say that the Democrats who voted to end the shutdown shouldn't have CAVE, to borrow their language.

8:51But the Democrats who voted for this bill say that their initial strategy as a party ended up just not being effective. And waiting a little or a lot longer wasn't going to change that. The only thing that it does change is how long the American people keep suffering from the effects of the shutdown. Well, what are you watching now that we move toward this vote in December on the subsidies? Well, looking to see how Senate Democrats craft a bill to address the subsidies. Can they do it in a way that brings enough Republicans on board? If they're successful, they'll start the year with a policy victory.

9:24And if Republicans don't support it, Democrats still have what they say is a winning issue, health care, to campaign on. That's NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Barbara, thanks for getting up early. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Steve. Now, the fight in Congress is over tax credits that were passed in 2021. That's when Democrats controlled Congress and expanded the subsidies that help millions of people pay for insurance. And they're supposed to expire at the end of this year. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports on health policy and joins us now. Hey there, Selena. Hi, morning, Steve. How do these tax credits work?

9:55Well, essentially, it's extra financial help from the federal government that brings down the cost of health insurance premiums in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. So Democrats want to maintain pretty generous subsidies that have for the last few years kept premium costs down for about 22 million people. Many Republicans say the subsidies don't address the problem of rising health care costs and that there were supposed to be a temporary pandemic policy whose time has come. Some say they're open to extending them for a year. Democratic senators secured a promise for a vote on this issue, at least in the Senate, before the end of the year.

10:31But open enrollment is happening now, which leaves enrollees in a really tricky situation. Now, you've done something really, really helpful here because people argue about these issues in the abstract or talk in general terms about who they imagine is receiving the subsidies. But you've been talking to some of the actual people. What are you hearing? Oh, it is rough. I mean, yesterday I spoke with Amy Jackson. She lives in Butler, Missouri. She's 56. She responded to NPR's call asking to hear from people navigating this right now. She buys coverage on healthcare.gov because her employer is too small to have health benefits.

11:04She actually works in medical billing at an independent urgent care center. She told me her insurance premiums are affordable for her at the moment. Right now, it's closer to$300. However, if you don't count the tax credit, it goes to$1 ,250. And do you have an extra$1 ,000 a month? No. No, I really don't. No. Going without insurance is really not an option for her. In October, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's rushing to get in as much treatment as she can before the year ends, but she'll still need coverage for follow-up appointments next year. She says she works in the medical field.

11:45She knows the insurance industry is part of the problem here, but she says people like her need help now, and congressional lawmakers need to understand that. You know, for them,$1 ,000 is probably nothing. It's probably what they blow on dinner. But for me, that's half of my wage. You know, I just can't swing that. She's been reaching out to her representatives. She says lawmakers could just flip a switch and fix this. Is that right? Is it that simple? I mean, if there were political will and bipartisan agreement, yes, Congress could extend the subsidies pretty easily. It's not cheap. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it would cost about$350 billion over 10 years to keep subsidizing people's premiums so much.

12:27Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House. So even if senators come up with a bipartisan bill, it would need to get through the House and President Trump would need to sign it. So what really happens here depends on Republican leadership. And right now, there's only been some signals that an extension might be possible, but no concrete deal has come through yet. What should people do who are supposed to sign up now? Well, they can definitely go in and shop and get an idea, but they should probably keep one eye on the news. That's what Amy Jackson told me she's doing. And there's about a month to go before people have to pick a plan that begins January 1st.

13:04And Pierre-Selena Simmons, Duffin, thanks as always. You're welcome.

13:11And that's Up First for this Thursday, November 13th. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm A. Martinez. And Up First, we give you three big stories of the day. Our Consider This colleagues take a little bit of a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you all in under 15 minutes. So listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get podcasts. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratt, Kelsey Snell, Diane Weber, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia DeMoss, and Lindsay Tati. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carla Strange.

13:46Join us tomorrow.

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