Hope you stayed dry overnight. Rain and flooding caused some schools to delay classes this morning, and there was at least one flood rescue last night.

Thanks for reading,

Ike

Looming federal cuts and Huntsville

An executive order from the White House on Tuesday set some criteria for cutting federal positions, and it appears that if they’re strictly followed, they could impact a large number of people in the Huntsville area, reports AL.com’s John R. Roby.

It would depend greatly on the workplace.

President Trump and Department of Government Efficiency boss Elon Musk have been clear about cutting positions and departments and rooting out wasteful spending. Trump’s order on Tuesday reiterated that, ordered a hiring freeze and gave Musk more muscle over hiring.

The executive order says federal agencies, as they consider cutting positions, should prioritize “all components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute or other law who are not typically designated as essential during a lapse in appropriations as provided in the Agency Contingency Plans on the Office of Management and Budget website.”

That means that if your job isn’t mandated by law and you’re a worker who might be furloughed during a government shutdown, then your job could be moved closer to the front of the line at the chopping block.

Among a few federal agencies that could affect people in the Huntsville area, the FBI, ATF and VA have filed reports claiming well over 90 percent of their employees are considered essential during a shutdown.

On the other end of that is Marshall Space Flight Center, which employs around 7,000 people. NASA submitted a continuity plan to OMB in 2023 that said more than 92% of its employees were considered nonessential during a shutdown.

How strictly “essential during a lapse in appropriations” will be applied to actual job cuts remains to be seen.

Gender definitions

The “What is a woman?” bill is on its way to the governor, who has indicated she’ll sign it.

AL.com’s Mike Cason reports that the Alabama House of Representatives passed the bill on Wednesday by a 77-12 vote, with only Democrats voting against.

The bill already passed the Senate 26-5. It was introduced there by state Sen. April Weaver, a Brierfield Republican, and it defines women and men based on whether their reproductive systems produce ova or sperm, respectively.

Unless you’ve been napping since the Guy Hunt administration, you know this issue has been a broiling point of contention nationally. Here in the state, it’s far from a 50-50 debate, but transgender people and others have voiced concerns that the bill could lead to harassment and marginalization. A couple hundred protesters of the bill demonstrated last week in Montgomery.

Some Democrats also cried foul over the process: The GOP took the uncommon step of limiting debate on the bill to 10 minutes.

Joe Lovvorn, an Auburn Republican, chairs the House Rules Committee that puts together the daily agenda. He said the abbreviated debate was due to a busy slate of committee meetings on Wednesday.

Sports cuts

Talladega College is shutting down several non-revenue sports programs, reports AL.com’s Williesha Morris, and the interim president of the university said it was a bad idea to add some sports in the first place.

An overextended athletics department isn’t the only challenge the HBCU faces. Enrollment has decreased by nearly a quarter over the past few years, and in Fall 2023 was down to 839 students. The college also faced a court settlement over payment that was owed for computer and surveillance equipment from 2018.

Interim president Walter Kimbrough said that in recent years sports have been added without a plan to support them. “So when you add those things and you have to add athletic and academic scholarships, it didn’t make a lot of sense,” he said.

Programs that are being eliminated include men’s volleyball, acrobatics and tumbling, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s indoor track.

Quoting

“Once NPR loses its federal funding, perhaps they will consider making an attempt at unbiased reporting.”

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, in a statement supporting efforts to defund National Public Radio.

By the Numbers

18

That would be the age of medical consent under a proposal in the Alabama Legislature.

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In 1922, Army Lt. Gen. Hal Moore. He was born in Kentucky but lived out his retirement in Auburn.

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