Welcome back to the Week in Review! This one will cover February 3 – February 9.

Government and Politics:

• Federal agencies, including the CIA, sent out formal documentation that would essentially allow government employees to receive pay and benefits without having to work through September 30 if they voluntarily resign from their positions.
  • The original deadline to sign the contract was March 6; however, a federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked this plan, halting this deadline.
• Monday was also the day multiple federal unions sued the Treasury Department over the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to their sensitive payment system.
• Chris Wright was confirmed as energy secretary.
• The Office of Personnel Management CFO, Erica Roach, chose to resign after being removed from her role and offered another smaller position.
• This Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing the additional 10% tariff that was imposed on all important Chinese goods.
• As of this Friday, all global USAID employees have been placed on leave and ordered to return to the U.S.

Arts and Entertainment:

• At the Super Bowl halftime show, many artists took the stage. Kendrick Lamar was the headliner, Jon Batiste sang the national anthem, Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle performed “America the Beautiful,” and Ledisi sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Stephanie Noqueras served as the American Sign Language Interpreter for the national anthem and “America the Beautiful,” Otis Jones IV for “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and Matt Maxey for the rest of the halftime show.

Sports:

• At the Superbowl, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.

Local News:

• On Sunday evening, the I-471 bridge in Cincinnati reopens, 100 days after a major fire caused significant damage to the bridge.

This Week in History:

• Monday, February 3 was the day Luna 9, an unmanned Soviet spacecraft, touched down on the Moon, becoming the first to achieve a soft landing there in 1966.
• Tuesday, February 4 was the day George Washington was unanimously elected as the first U.S. president in 1789. 
• Wednesday, February 5 was the day Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic, in 1909.
• Thursday, February 6 was the day Ronald Reagan, the future 40th U.S. president, was born in 1911.
• Friday, February 7, celebrates English chemist John Newlands publishing the first periodic table of elements in 1863.
• Saturday, February 8 was the day Flavius Constantine became co-emperor with Honorius and adopted the title of “Emperor Constantius III,” ruling over the Western Roman Empire, in 421 AD.
• Sunday, February 9 was the day Nelson Mandela became the first Black president of South Africa in 1994.