Iran Ceasefire Deadline, Labor Secretary Out, Hearing For New Fed Chair
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid allegations of an affair with her bodyguard, drinking on the job, and using taxpayer money for personal travel, becoming the third cabinet member to leave in less than two months.
And President Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve faces his confirmation hearing today, but Republican Senator Thom Tillis is threatening to block it until the Justice Department drops its investigation of current Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
A previous version of the story "Iran Ceasefire Deadline" incorrectly said the ceasefire between the US, Iran and Israel expires today. It expires on Wednesday.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Ruth Sherlock, Emily Kopp, Rafael Nam, Mohamad ElBardicy, and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:58) Iran Ceasefire Deadline
(05:59) Labor Secretary Out
(09:33) Hearing For New Fed Chair
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Talks to extend the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. are still up in the air. |
| 0:07.1 | Iran says it won't negotiate under threat, but President Trump says he's sending negotiators anyway. |
| 0:11.9 | Will Iran send a delegation for talks? |
| 0:13.9 | I'm Laila Faudil. That's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:21.0 | Another Trump administration official is out. |
| 0:23.7 | Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Durima resigned amid an investigation of misconduct. |
| 0:28.2 | Some outlets reported it included drinking on the job and an alleged affair with her bodyguard. |
| 0:33.1 | She's the third cabinet member gone in less than two months. |
| 0:35.7 | And President Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve faces his confirmation hearing today. |
| 0:40.4 | But a key Republican senator is threatening to block Kevin Warsh's confirmation until the Justice Department |
| 0:46.3 | drops its investigation of the current Fed chair. |
| 0:49.8 | Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. |
| 1:02.7 | The ceasefire agreement between the U.S., Israel, and Iran expires tomorrow. |
| 1:07.3 | President Trump told CNBC this morning that he does not want to extend the ceasefire. |
| 1:08.8 | Well, I don't want to do that. |
| 1:11.4 | We don't have that much time because by the time both parties get theirs, as you know, they just got the okay to go forward, which I do they were |
| 1:15.4 | going to do anyway. That's as the status of further peace talks to extend that agreement |
| 1:19.7 | remain unclear. And in Lebanon, a different temporary ceasefire agreement to pause the fighting |
| 1:25.8 | between Israel and Hasbullah is in place. |
| 1:28.7 | But people there are watching what happens between the U.S. and Iran. |
| 1:32.9 | For more on all that, we're joined by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf, who is in southern Lebanon. |
| 1:37.0 | Kat, welcome. Thanks for joining us. |
... |
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