{"id":10082,"date":"2026-02-12T14:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/12\/6-gop-reps-defy-trump-to-block-canadian-tariffs-and-student-loan-defaults-rise-npr\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T14:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:15:17","slug":"6-gop-reps-defy-trump-to-block-canadian-tariffs-and-student-loan-defaults-rise-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/12\/6-gop-reps-defy-trump-to-block-canadian-tariffs-and-student-loan-defaults-rise-npr\/","title":{"rendered":"6 GOP reps defy Trump to block Canadian tariffs. And, student loan defaults rise &#8211; NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"headlineaudio\">\n<article id=\"resnx-s1-mx-5712144-1\" aria-label=\"audio-module\">\n<div>\n<h4>Bondi&#8217;s Heated Hearing, Pushback On Trump&#8217;s Tariffs, Revised Jobs Report<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"storytext\">\n<p><em>Good morning. You&#8217;re reading the Up First newsletter.\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/newsletter\/news\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe<\/a><em>\u00a0here to get it delivered to your inbox, and\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/podcasts\/510318\/up-first\/\" target=\"_blank\">listen<\/a><em>\u00a0to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Today&#8217;s top stories<\/h3>\n<p><strong>President Trump&#8217;s tariff agenda is under threat after six House Republicans bucked party leaders<\/strong> and joined Democrats to successfully vote against Canadian tariffs. It&#8217;s a rare rebuke of one of the president&#8217;s favorite tools for pressuring foes and allies alike.<\/p>\n<div id=\"resg-s1-109765-1\">\n<div data-crop-type>         <picture><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/8660x4871+0+451\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F50%2Fa5%2F8bc2fe0641bb9cdc3b273b2a01c8%2Fgettyimages-2202572444.jpg\"  type=\"image\/webp\"><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/8660x4871+0+451\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F50%2Fa5%2F8bc2fe0641bb9cdc3b273b2a01c8%2Fgettyimages-2202572444.jpg\"  type=\"image\/jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/8660x4871+0+451\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F50%2Fa5%2F8bc2fe0641bb9cdc3b273b2a01c8%2Fgettyimages-2202572444.jpg\" alt=\"A \"Prepared in Canada\" tag in a grocery aisle at the Real Canadian Superstore on March 3, 2025 in Toronto, Canada.\" loading=\"lazy\">         <\/picture> <\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>                 A &#8220;Prepared in Canada&#8221; tag in a grocery aisle at the Real Canadian Superstore on March 3, 2025 in Toronto, Canada.                 <b aria-label=\"Image credit\">                                          Katherine KY Cheng\/Getty Images                                      <\/b>                 <b><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b>             <\/p>\n<p><b><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b>     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Image credit\">                  Katherine KY Cheng\/Getty Images              <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\ud83c\udfa7<strong> NPR&#8217;s Franco Ordo\u00f1ez tells <em>Up First<\/em> that this was a stark message from the six Republicans who voted against the tariffs.<\/strong> &#8220;It&#8217;s another example of how Republicans are starting to <a href=\"https:\/\/one.npr.org\/?sharedMediaId=nx-s1-5712144:nx-s1-mx-5712144-1\" target=\"_blank\">stand up to the president<\/a>&#8221; he adds. Tariffs are expected to help reduce deficits by over $3 trillion over a decade, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report. But it also shows that companies are passing off 90% of those costs to consumers. Ordo\u00f1ez says Republicans have faced increasing pressure from their constituents about high costs, and the business community is afraid to invest amid economic uncertainty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>U.S. employers unexpectedly added 130,000 jobs in January, <\/strong>according to a new Labor Department report. That&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/11\/nx-s1-5708807\/jobs-labor-unemployment-economy\" target=\"_blank\">more than double the hiring pace<\/a> in November or December. But once a year, the Labor Department updates its job tally with more accurate, yet less timely information from unemployment tax records. That revision shows that there were nearly 900,000 fewer jobs in the economy last March than originally counted. On average, employers added only 15,000 jobs a month in 2025. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\ud83c\udfa7 <strong>Last month&#8217;s hiring boom was concentrated in a handful of industries like health care<\/strong>, which is generally immune to the ups and downs of the wider economy, NPR&#8217;s Scott Horsley says. Wells Fargo economist Sarah House tells him there aren&#8217;t as many job openings as there used to be, and it&#8217;s still a tough jobs market to break into if you&#8217;re unemployed. Wages are still rising, but not as quickly as they have in the past. Horsley says that with this softer job market, workers generally <a href=\"https:\/\/one.npr.org\/?sharedMediaId=nx-s1-5712144:nx-s1-mx-5712144-1\" target=\"_blank\">don&#8217;t have the kind of bargaining power<\/a> they previously had to command higher wages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Today, the Trump administration is expected to revoke a Clean Air Act finding<\/strong> from 2009 that has long been the basis for the U.S.&#8217; climate pollution regulations. The finding determined that pollutants from developing and burning fossil fuels, such as methane and carbon dioxide, could be regulated under the Clean Air Act. The Environmental Protection Agency now argues that the Clean Air Act <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/11\/nx-s1-5678273\/trump-epa-climate-change-endangerment\" target=\"_blank\">does not give it the legal authority<\/a> to regulate greenhouse gases. The administration&#8217;s decision comes after three of the hottest years ever recorded.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Top officials from three federal immigration enforcement agencies are expected to testify before a Senate committee today,<\/strong> after testifying before House lawmakers earlier this week. The Department of Homeland Security is one day away from a potential shutdown. Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called for the hearing after federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Paul said at a town hall that he wanted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/12\/nx-s1-5707281\/senate-dhs-oversight-hearing\" target=\"_blank\">focus on the federal agents&#8217; use of force<\/a>. Most Democrats say they won&#8217;t support another short-term DHS funding measure. A shutdown would affect agencies like the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency \u2014 potentially affecting travel and disaster response. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection both received large infusions of cash last summer, making ICE the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency.<\/p>\n<h3>Deep dive<\/h3>\n<div data-crop-type id=\"resg-s1-109487\">         <picture><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x1688+0+156\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdd%2F62%2F4fdb31714f52a7685b13ef18ab95%2Floan-default2.jpg\"  type=\"image\/webp\"><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x1688+0+156\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdd%2F62%2F4fdb31714f52a7685b13ef18ab95%2Floan-default2.jpg\"  type=\"image\/jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x1688+0+156\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdd%2F62%2F4fdb31714f52a7685b13ef18ab95%2Floan-default2.jpg\" alt=\"loan default2.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\">         <\/picture> <\/div>\n<p>Roughly a million borrowers defaulted on their federal student loans last year, according to federal data and the latest Household Debt and Credit Report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Millions more are delinquent on their payments. New York Fed researchers say they expect the number of borrowers in default to continue to grow. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/10\/nx-s1-5690186\/student-loan-default-repayment\" target=\"_blank\">stakes are high<\/a> for borrowers \u2014 and for the broader U.S. economy. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\ud83d\udcb5 After 270 days of missed payments, a borrower is considered in default. The government restarted that count when student loan repayments resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic. This means no borrower could have newly defaulted on their loans until last June at the earliest.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udcb5 A whopping 9.8 million borrowers, many of whom are low-income, have loans in forbearance. Their payments are paused, but their loans still accrue interest, putting them at extra risk of defaulting.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udcb5 The Trump administration announced mid-January that it would delay involuntary collections on defaulted borrowers. If the Department of Education returns to garnishing wages and tax refunds, experts say consumer spending, home sales, auto loans and more could drop.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Picture show<\/h3>\n<div id=\"resg-s1-109177\">\n<div data-crop-type>         <picture><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/6558x3689+0+343\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc4%2Fad%2Fb1e31f334c839a60004fc965eef7%2Faub-cats-035.jpg\"  type=\"image\/webp\"><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/6558x3689+0+343\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc4%2Fad%2Fb1e31f334c839a60004fc965eef7%2Faub-cats-035.jpg\"  type=\"image\/jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/6558x3689+0+343\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc4%2Fad%2Fb1e31f334c839a60004fc965eef7%2Faub-cats-035.jpg\" alt=\"Thousands of students and more than 800 cats coexist on the campus of the American University of Beirut, often crossing path, sometimes interacting together, but mostly respecting each other\u2019s spaces.\" loading=\"lazy\">         <\/picture> <\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>                 Thousands of students and more than 800 cats coexist on the campus of the American University of Beirut, often crossing path, sometimes interacting together, but mostly respecting each other&#8217;s spaces.                 <b aria-label=\"Image credit\">                                          Tamara Saade for NPR                                      <\/b>                 <b><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b>             <\/p>\n<p><b><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b>     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Image credit\">                  Tamara Saade for NPR              <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>At the American University of Beirut, your classmate could have four paws and a penchant for napping in sunbeams over taking lecture notes. The school&#8217;s cat rescue started during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s, when the animals sought shelter from street fighting. The country has seen more than its share of war since. Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah saw a year of fighting that began in late 2023. Israel is still launching attacks. Many people abandon their pets as they flee their homes. Veterinarian Rana Bou Khalil estimates there are now between 1,200 and 1,600 cats on campus. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/10\/g-s1-109346\/beirut-lebanon-cats-university\" target=\"_blank\">photos of the furry friends<\/a>, and read more about the joys and challenges of seeking an education among these campus cats.<\/p>\n<h3>3 things to know before you go<\/h3>\n<div data-crop-type id=\"resg-s1-109493\">         <picture><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1920x1080+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2Fd4%2F68683a454de89206a5868b2daf61%2Ffarflungpostcard-ep.jpg\"  type=\"image\/webp\"><source  data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1920x1080+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2Fd4%2F68683a454de89206a5868b2daf61%2Ffarflungpostcard-ep.jpg\"  type=\"image\/jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1920x1080+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2Fd4%2F68683a454de89206a5868b2daf61%2Ffarflungpostcard-ep.jpg\" alt=\"FarFlungPostcard_EP.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\">         <\/picture> <\/div>\n<ol>\n<li>NPR international correspondent Eyder Peralta says one of his favorite weekly rituals in Mexico City is when the Paseo de la Reforma shuts down to car traffic every Sunday. During that time, tens of thousands of people on bikes, skates and rollerblades roll past iconic parts of Mexico&#8217;s capital. For this week&#8217;s Far-Flung Postcards, Eyder shares a picture of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/11\/nx-s1-5699414\/mexico-city-sunday-paseo-de-la-reforma\" target=\"_blank\">Benji, a very good boy<\/a> who has been riding in his owner&#8217;s basket for two years<\/li>\n<li>U.S. ice dancing power couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/11\/nx-s1-5711198\/madison-chock-evan-bates-ice-dance-olympics-france\" target=\"_blank\">claimed silver medals at the Olympics<\/a> yesterday. Their first individual medal win was bittersweet, as the seasoned couple lost to the newly paired Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France by 1.43 points.<\/li>\n<li>The Federal Aviation Administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/02\/11\/nx-s1-5711585\/el-paso-airspace-drones-pentagon-faa\" target=\"_blank\">abruptly closed the airspace around El Paso<\/a> late Tuesday night for ten days \u2014 only to reopen it hours later after the Pentagon authorized use of a laser to shoot down what it believed to be a Mexican drone.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>This newsletter was edited by <\/em><strong><em>Yvonne Dennis.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bondi&#8217;s Heated Hearing, Pushback On Trump&#8217;s Tariffs, Revised Jobs Report Good morning. You&#8217;re reading the Up First newsletter.\u00a0Subscribe\u00a0here to get it delivered to your inbox, and\u00a0listen\u00a0to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today&#8217;s top stories President Trump&#8217;s tariff agenda is under threat after six House Republicans bucked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}