Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst.

President Trump says his administration will pass responsibility for the student loans

from the Department of Education to the Small Business Administration.

As NPR's Franco-Oordogne's reports, Trump says the change will take effect immediately.

President Trump made the announcement in an Oval Office meeting saying that student loans will be better managed by Kelly Lafleur, the administrator of the Small Business Administration and her team.

We have a portfolio that's very large, lots of loans, tens of thousands of loans, pretty complicated deal.

The announcement comes a day after Trump signed an executive order to begin dismantling the

education department.

Trump has argued the department is poorly run and that much of the work can be done more

efficiently by the states.

Trump says programs involving special needs and nutrition would be handled by the

Department of Health and Human Services. Franco, Ordonez. NPR News, the White House.

President Trump has invoked emergency powers to boost production of critical minerals. As NPR's

Julia Simon reports, minerals like lithium and nickel are used to make

electric vehicle batteries and weapons. The new executive order says that the U.S. relies too much

on mineral production from, quote, hostile foreign powers. China is a leading producer and processor

of many critical minerals. The order instructs government

agencies to make a list of federal lands that have critical mineral deposits and prioritize

mining as an activity on those public lands. It also calls for making a list of U.S. mines that can

be quickly approved. Climate researchers say many climate solutions

like batteries, solar panels depend on critical minerals. But environmental groups worry that without

proper reviews, expediting mining could endanger water, biodiversity, and public land.

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