The Headlines - Millions of Federal Workers Offered Payouts, and Kennedy’s Senate Test

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

Plus, Mona Lisa makes moves.  On Today’s Episode:Trump Administration Offers Millions of Federal Workers Payouts to Resign, by Chris Cameron, Madeleine Ngo and Erica L. GreenJudge Stays Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze, but Disruption to Medicaid Sows Fear, by Michael D. ShearKennedy, Polarizing Pick for Health Secretary, Makes His Senate Debut, by Sheryl Gay StolbergAmerican Children’s Reading Skills Reach New Lows, by Dana GoldsteinMona Lisa to Get Her Own Room as the Overcrowded Louvre Expands, by Aurelien BreedenTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today is Wednesday, January 29th. Here's what we're covering. Employees of the United States government got an email yesterday from the Office of Personnel Management. 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. The offer covers roughly two million federal workers, and it's part of an effort to drastically reduce the size of the government, and to push out people who don't support President Trump's agenda. The email warned that people who do choose to stay will face enhanced standards of conduct to ensure that workers are, quote, reliable, loyal, trustworthy. For people who want the buyout, they were asked to simply write back the word resign

and hit send. Notably, a very similar email with the same exact fork in the road subject line went out to the employees of Twitter when Elon Musk, who Trump has put in charge of cutting government spending, took over that company. 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. But the move could gut the staff responsible for a lot of services Americans rely on. People who could turn in their resignations include meteorologists at the National Weather Service, food safety inspectors, nuclear scientists. Regular activities like filing a tax return, renewing a passport, going to a national park, or accessing food stamps could be disrupted. 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. 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. The theory goes that rolling out multiple changes almost simultaneously overwhelms any opposition and makes it harder to push back. The American people voted for dramatic change implemented by Donald Trump. So it is essential for him to get control of government.

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. 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. The freeze created a surge of confusion and panic across the country before a federal judge temporarily blocked it. Schools, hospitals, nonprofits, research companies, and many other organizations scrambled to figure out if they'd have to shut down their services.

Some did. 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. For now, the pause is on hold after an activist group sued the Trump administration over it, calling it unconstitutional. The judge in the case said she would issue a more permanent decision next week. For more about the freeze and whether it's likely to survive in court, listen to today's

episode of The Daily. 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. The philosophy that he brings to this position could have far-reaching 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's health insurance and overall medical well-being.

My colleague Cheryl Gay Stolberg covers health policy. She says Kennedy rose to prominence pushing unorthodox views that medical experts say are dangerous. He's railed against vaccines, promised to take fluoride out of drinking water, and encouraged people to drink raw milk. 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.

Kennedy is going to face a lot of tough questions, especially about his views on vaccination, which really alarm public health experts. 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. The fact that we have eradicated smallpox and nearly eliminated polio and greatly reduced other childhood diseases that can be prevented with vaccines. They're worried that this progress will be endangered if Kennedy becomes health secretary. 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. And so far, several GOP senators have not said if they'll back him. That includes Mitch McConnell, who survived polio as a child. New data released today shows that American students' reading scores have reached a record low. One-third of eighth graders have below basic reading skills, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That means when they read a passage, they can't identify what the main idea is. For fourth graders, the results are even worse. Forty percent have below basic reading skills. 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. Experts have no clear explanation for why the scores are falling. Some point to a rise in screen time. Kids are watching videos more and reading less, which means they're getting less practice, and it could also be affecting their attention spans and their ability to focus. 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. And finally, after 500 years, Mona Lisa is getting her own room. French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the Louvre Museum in Paris, which houses

Da Vinci's masterpiece, is expanding. And the plans include a special exhibition space just for the painting. The goal is to try and make room for more visitors. Nine million people a year come through the museum. An estimated 80% of them are there to see Mona Lisa. 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. After the announcement, one French art expert pointed out that the museum could also do more

to showcase its other masterpieces. Beyond Mona Lisa, the Louvre has half a million pieces in its collection and 30,000 on display. Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford, We'll be back tomorrow.