FLOOD THE ZONE: In a bold move to shrink the government, the Trump administration yesterday offered all federal employees the opportunity to quit now and be paid through September. Most of the 2.3 million federal workers are eligible for the incentive that expires February 6^th.

  The email says can simply reply with “resign” and hit send.

  It’s part of President Trump’s dramatic and rapid-fire attempts to re-shape and shrink the federal government and even overwrite federal law with the stroke of his Sharpie. 

  The email from the White House’s Office of Personnel Management titled “Fork in the Road” says, “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency, but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”

  The email says,  “The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work.”

  Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement that, “Purging the federal government of dedicated career federal employees will have vast, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans who depend on a functioning federal government.”

  The chaos is already underway. Yesterday a federal judge imposed a temporary ban on Trump’s order to pause trillions of dollars in federal spending, including  programs that fund schools, provide housing and ensure that low-income Americans have access to health care.

  The money is already allocated by Congress, which holds the authority to spend. But the Trump administration is saying that because he was elected he has a mandate to do what he wants. Trump and his incoming budget chief, Russell Vought, are embracing  a controversial power known as impoundment, which could allow them to reduce or eliminate spending regardless of what Congress decided.

WAIT, THERE’S MORE: 

— In yet another attack on transgenderism as a political rather than a biological or medical issue, President Trump yesterday signed an executive order aimed at ending gender-affirming medical treatments for children and teenagers under 19, directing federal agencies to take a variety of steps to curtail surgeries, hormone therapy, and other treatments.

  The order sets the official policy that the federal government will not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.”

  Trump said on his Truth Social website that “It was my great honor to sign an Executive Order banning the chemical castration and medical mutilation of innocent children in the United States of America.”

— The new transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, signed an order to roll back fuel economy standards set by President Biden that were aimed at promoting electric vehicles and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

— The administration fired two of three Democratic members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

— With her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. up for secretary of Health and Human Services, Caroline Kennedy wrote a letter to Congress calling him a “predator” who should not be given the office. “I have known Bobby my whole life; we grew up together,” Caroline Kennedy wrote. “It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because he himself is a predator.”

  RFK Jr. has been a vocal opponent of vaccines, a pillar of healthcare, but it’s as much his personal history that has his cousin in distress. “His basement, his garage, his dorm room were the centers of the action where drugs were available, and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks,” wrote the daughter of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

  She wrote of “siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness, and death while Bobby has gone on to misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life.”

CHANNEL CHANGE: CNN morning anchor Jim Acosta left the network after they pulled his 10 am slot and offered him the midnight show. 

  Acosta made a reputation for himself as a White House correspondent being tough on Donald Trump during his first presidency.  The press office even tried to bar him from the briefing room.

  Trump called Acosta “one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history, a major sleazebag.”

  Acosta said during his signoff that “As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home the lesson … it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I have always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account.

THE SPIN RACK: Israel says that eight of the 26 hostages expected to be released in the ceasefire with Hamas are dead. Seven female hostages have been released so far in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held prisoner in Israel. — The six-member Oklahoma State Board of Education voted unanimously to require children to show proof of citizenship before enrolling in school. Last year Oklahoma’s  state Superintendent of Education, Ryan Walters, ordered that the Bible must be taught in public schools. — Prior to his inauguration Donald Trump suggested that the government was keeping secrets about the mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey and the New York Metropolitan area. Now Trump Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says what people saw were drones “authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.”  

BELOW THE FOLD: The Mona Lisa is getting her own room at the Louvre because 80 percent of the millions of visitors come just to see Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece. The lady just can’t sit in peace.   

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