--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Wednesday, January 29th. Here's what we're covering.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Employees of the United States government got an unexpected email yesterday from the Office of Personnel Management. The subject line? Fork in the road. Inside was an offer. Stay at your job as part of a, quote, reformed federal workforce, or take a buyout and leave.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The offer covers roughly 2 million federal workers. It's part of the Trump administration's effort to drastically reduce the size of the government and to push out people who don't support the president's agenda.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The email warned that people who do choose to stay will face what it called enhanced standards of conduct to ensure that workers are, quote, reliable, loyal, trustworthy.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: For people who want the buyout, they were asked to simply write back the word resign and hit send.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Not all federal employees are eligible for the deal. The Office of Personnel Management said members of the military, postal service workers, immigration officials, and others would be exempt.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But the move could gut the staff responsible for a lot of services Americans rely on. And things like filing a tax return, renewing a passport, going to a national park, or accessing food stamps could all be disrupted.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The drastic buyout offer, which the Trump administration may not have the authority to follow through on, is just one of dozens of policy changes and executive orders that have been rolled out over the last 10 days.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The onslaught is intentional. During Trump's first term, his team boasted about the flood the zone tactic. This time around, Trump's policy advisor Stephen Miller has been pushing it aggressively.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The theory goes that rolling out multiple changes almost simultaneously overwhelms any opposition and makes it harder to push back.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Meanwhile, The American people voted for dramatic change implemented by Donald Trump. So it is essential for him to get control of government.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: On Tuesday, Miller went on CNN to defend one of the president's most dramatic directives so far, his attempt to freeze trillions of dollars of federal funding.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Either Donald Trump gets political control over this government and ends the waste, abuse and fraud on the American people, or we let bureaucrats autopilot federal spending.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The freeze created a surge of confusion and panic across the country before a federal judge temporarily blocked it.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Schools, hospitals, nonprofits, research companies and many other organizations scrambled to figure out if they'd have to shut down their services. Some did.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: A health agency in Arizona stopped distributing Narcan. And a Head Start program for 600 kids in Michigan canceled preschool for today after it couldn't access funds online.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: For now, the pause is on hold after an activist group sued the Trump administration over it, calling it unconstitutional.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The judge in the case said she would issue a more permanent decision next week.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: For more about the freeze and whether it's likely to survive in court, listen to today's episode of The Daily.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This morning on Capitol Hill, one of President Trump's most polarizing cabinet picks, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will face his first confirmation hearing, where senators will consider whether he should lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The philosophy that he brings to this position could have far ramifications for the kinds of drugs that Americans have access to the kinds of vaccines that we give our children the ingredients that we put in foods not to mention people health insurance and overall medical well-being.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: My colleague Cheryl Gay Stolberg covers health policy. She says Kennedy rose to prominence pushing unorthodox views that medical experts say are dangerous.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: He's railed against vaccines, promised to take fluoride out of drinking water, and encouraged people to drink raw milk.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: She says while he's recently shifted his emphasis to less controversial issues, like cutting back on how much ultra-processed foods Americans eat or fighting chronic disease, it's those earlier views that will likely be at the center of this week's hearings.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Kennedy is going to face a lot of tough questions, especially about his views on vaccination, which really alarm public health experts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: He spent years sowing doubts about vaccines. He's participated in lawsuits against vaccine makers. And public health people regard vaccination as truly one of the great triumphs of their fields.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The fact that we have eradicated smallpox and nearly eliminated polio and greatly reduced other childhood diseases that can be prevented with vaccines.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: They're worried that this progress will be endangered if Kennedy becomes health secretary.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It's not clear yet whether Kennedy will get the votes he needs to be confirmed. He can only afford to lose the support of three Republicans.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And so far, several GOP senators have not said if they'll back him. That includes Mitch McConnell, who survived polio as a child.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: New data released today shows that American students' reading scores have reached a record low.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: One-third of eighth graders have below basic reading skills, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That means when they read a passage they can identify what the main idea is.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: For fourth graders the results are even worse - 40 have below reading skills.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The poor results cut across demographics like race and class and are a disappointment for educators who had been hoping for a rebound from widespread pandemic learning loss.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Experts have no clear explanation for why the scores are dropping.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Some point to a rise in screen time. Kids are watching videos more and reading less, which means they're getting less practice.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: More screen time could also be affecting their attention spans and their ability to focus.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Other experts point to how much school kids are missing. The percentage of American students who are chronically absent is still far higher than it was before the pandemic.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally, after 500 years, Mona Lisa is getting her own room.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the Louvre Museum in Paris, which houses da Vinci's masterpiece, is expanding.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And the plans include a special exhibition space just for the painting.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The goal is to try and make room for more visitors. Nine million people a year come through the museum.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: An estimated 80% of them are there to see Mona Lisa.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Because of the crowds, that means some people who go to see her famous smile just see, like, the top of her head, or a little slice of her cheek in between other tourists' phones.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: After the announcement, one French art expert pointed out that the museum could also do more to showcase its other masterpieces.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Beyond Mona Lisa, the Louvre has half a million pieces in its collection. And 30,000 on display.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.
