Hiccups with Trump's mass layoffs
Hello! It’s Rebecca Morin, senior national news reporter at Paste BN. I need my favorite artists to stop announcing new tours because I can’t afford to see them all.
USDA rushing to rescind mistaken firings of key bird flu personnel
Amid the mass layoffs hitting key agencies in the federal government, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scrambling to rehire "several" fired employees who play a key role in the agency's response to bird flu. For over a year, bird flu has caused havoc in the farming industry, leading to millions of dead birds and thousands of sick cows – and causing egg prices to run up. A USDA spokesperson said the workers were accidentally fired over the weekend and officials are “working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters.” Read more.
This isn’t the first time that an agency has quickly rehired workers who were fired due to the mass layoffs being implemented by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The Trump administration rescinded firings for hundreds of employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation's arsenal of nuclear weapons.
The layoffs aren’t just interrupting agencies in Washington D.C. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston closed abruptly Tuesday due to a "sudden dismissal of federal employees.” It was expected to reopen Wednesday, officials said.
A politics pit stop
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- Starliner astronauts react to Trump saying they were 'abandoned'
- Trump team pushes Romania to lift restrictions on Andrew Tate: Reports
- UAE tells Marco Rubio it rejects displacement of Palestinians
'Future of conservative movement'? College Republicans say it’s Barron Trump.
Barron Trump, the youngest son of President Trump, has become the face of the young conservative movement. And he hasn’t even uttered a single word in public to do so. Drama filled the New York University campus’ College Republicans of America chapter this week after the group’s president, Kaya Walker, resigned over comments she made about the 18-year-old Trump, who attends the university. In response, the College Republicans of America, the national association, dubbed the youngest Trump as “the future” and extended an invitation to join NYU’s chapter. Read more.
You asked, On Politics answers: Fort Knox gold
If you spend any amount of time on the internet, you’ve probably seen some chatter about the United States’ gold reserves. One reader who declined to be named asked: “Is there gold in Fort Knox?”
There are 147.3 million ounces – or a little more than half – of the United States’ gold held at Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, according to the U.S. Mint. There’s been a decades-old conspiracy that the U.S. gold reserves are no longer at Fort Knox military base in Kentucky. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and senior advisor to President Donald Trump, is urging officials to audit how much gold is in the reserves.
Got a burning question, or comment, for On Politics? You can submit them here or send me an email at rdmorin@usatoday.com.