In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your

podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Trump administration says it

will hold an oil and gas lease sale in one of the nation's largest tracks of wilderness. NPR's

Nate Rot reports it's unclear if anyone will place bids.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is roughly the size of South Carolina, an area of northeast

Alaska with no roads, but abundant wildlife like Caribou, muscocks, and polar bears.

It's also been the subject of a long-running political dispute. The first Trump administration

opened the area to oil and gas lease sales before the Biden administration closed it off again.

The Interior Department now says sales are back on with two planned later this winter.

The last time an oil and gas lease sale was held in the refuge, though, it ended with no bidders.

Nate Rot, NPR News.

Demolition work on the east wing of the White House continues today, even as preservation groups plead for caution, as NPR's Tamara Keith reports, the project is ahead of schedule.

A White House official tells NPR demolition of the entire East Wing could be completed as soon as this weekend, with structures

all the way up to the edge of the White House residents coming down. In a letter, the National

Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States urged the Trump administration to pause

the demolition until plans for the 90,000 square foot ballroom, far bigger than the main house, can go through a review

process. The White House says the offices and other East Wing features, including the secure

underground presidential emergency operations center, will be modernized and enhanced as part of

the ballroom project. Tamara Keith, NPR News. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has endorsed

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