The Daily Moth 2-6-2025
It is Thursday, February 6, 2025. Here are today’s top stories.
———
Judge delays federal workers buyouts
Axios reported that today, a federal judge pushed back the deadline for about 2 million government employees to decide whether or not to take the “buyout” offer from the Trump administration — to resign by today and receive pay through September. The offer is based on Trump and Elon Musk’s desire to reduce the federal workforce.
A union representing federal workers took legal action, saying they believe the offer is a “con” and violates the law.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. responded by imposing a restraining order on the deadline until Monday. He basically said the Trump administration couldn’t take any action until there is a briefing and oral argument on the issues.
The Trump administration said it would continue to process resignations through Monday. News reports said about 40,000 federal employees have accepted the offer.
So, we’ll know more about the status of this process on Monday.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/06/trump-buyout-federal-workers-postponed
https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-request-block-trumps-federal-government-employee-buyout/story?id=118535508
———
Police rescue unconscious boater
Police in Volusia County, Florida showed videos of a dramatic rescue of a man who was unconscious on a motorboat that was spinning by itself. Officers used a police boat to get close, jump in the other boat, and bring the man to an ambulance. Look at this video.
[Video clip]
Amazing work. That requires incredible professionalism and bravery to stay calm and rescue the man. The Volusia Sheriff’s Office said the man is expected to make a full recovery.
https://www.facebook.com/VolusiaSheriff/videos/4048211612168153
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-rescued-unresponsive-speedboat-florida-volusia-county/
———
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
———
[Advertisement from Tive: 🔥Yooo! This is NEXT-LEVEL.🔥
Stop everything—you HAVE to check out Tive!
✅ VRS and VRI with certified ASL interpreters
✅ Available 24/7, anytime and anywhere
✅ One app that makes life simple
Download it now and see for yourself! 👉 tiveapp.com/join
———
Army helicopter in crash had tracking system off
USAToday reported that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he received information that the U.S. Army helicopter that collided with the American Airlines jet last week in D.C. had its advanced surveillance system turned off.
The system is called ADS-B. It works by broadcasting its GPS location, altitude and ground speed and provides a display that shows where there are other aircraft in the sky or on a runway.
Sen. Cruz said the helicopter was on a training mission and there was no national security reason to turn off the ADS-B system. The federal government said the system helps make airspace safer, so the fact that the ADS-B was off is definitely an important update on the investigation on what caused the crash.
Crews working on recovering the helicopter and plane said they expect to recover all major parts of the plane by today and then work on pulling out the helicopter next.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/02/06/washington-plane-helicopter-crash-recovery-updates/78280776007/
———
Trump transgender ban
On Wednesday afternoon, President Trump signed an executive order to impose a federal ban on transgender women from competing in women’s sports. Trump was surrounded by young girls, teenagers, and women, who cheered the action.
The order works by using Title IX (9), a civil rights law from 1972 that requires schools that receive federal funding to not discriminate against women and girls and provide equal opportunities and treatment — basically to make sure girls and women are not left behind when it comes to sports and education programs. Almost all schools receive some form of federal funding, so the order has widespread impact.
CNN explained that the Biden administration used Title IX as a way to protect transgender students by saying the law is violated if trans athletes are prohibited from playing, but now the Trump administration is taking the opposite position by saying women’s sports must be protected from transgender athletes to ensure it’s safe and fair.
Today, the NCAA made it official that “a student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.” A previous policy allowed those athletes to compete if they underwent at least one year of testosterone suppression treatment. Fox News said the NCAA’s policy still allows biological females to compete on men’s teams. The NCAA said in December that as far as they know, there are less than 10 transgender athletes out of about 500,000 athletes. One of the most well-known transgender athletes is Lia Thomas, a UPenn swimmer who won a NCAA Division I national championship in a freestyle event. Now, three former UPenn women’s swimmers are suing the school alleging they suffered emotional trauma by having Lia as their teammate and wants to see Lia’s swimming records expunged.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/05/politics/transgender-athletes-trump-executive-action/index.html
https://apnews.com/live/trump-harris-election-updates-11-5-2024%C2%A0
https://nypost.com/2025/02/06/sports/upenn-lia-thomas-teammates-grace-estabrook-margot-kaczorowski-ellen-holmquis-file-lawsuit-against-ncaa/
———
Kultida Woods, Tiger’s mom, dies
Kultida Woods, who was the mother of Tiger Woods, passed away at the age of 80. Tiger announced this on Tuesday and said she was his biggest fan, greatest supporter, and would not be able to achieve anything without her.
Kultida was from Thailand and met Tiger’s father, Earl, during the Vietnam War when he was stationed in Thailand. They married in 1969. Earl died in 2006.
Tiger said his mother was very tough and very demanding, but she was his rock.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2025/02/04/kultida-woods-death-tiger-woods-mother/78212310007/
———
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.