Today is Wednesday, January 29th. We're talking about President Trump's boldest effort yet to

remake the federal government and re-examine spending priorities. And today, lawmakers are said to consider

Trump's pick to lead American health agencies. But some doctors, scientists, and even members of his

own family are begging them not to confirm him. Plus, the latest findings from last month's

mysterious drone sightings, results of a major study about how cannabis affects the brain, and the year of the snake, what it represents on this lunar new year.

Those stories and even more news to know coming up.

Welcome, welcome to The Newsworthy.

All the day's news in around 10 minutes.

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I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. You ready? Let's do this. A new memo from the Trump administration caused some panic around

the U.S. It went out early yesterday to say the Trump administration was pausing all federal

payments for federal grants,

loans, and other programs. The pause was supposed to start last night. But there was widespread

chaos and confusion about exactly what funding was going to be put on hold. So the White House tried

to clarify, saying it would not impact any program that sends Americans direct benefits. For example,

Social Security, Medicare,

and SNAP benefits, aka food stamps. But it would impact any money that goes through states,

nonprofits, or other entities, and then gets distributed to Americans. Lawmakers say that includes

community health and child care programs, as well as disaster relief, cancer research, opioid

addiction treatment, small business support, cancer research, opioid addiction treatment,

small business support, infrastructure developments, and a lot more. To be clear, the White House says

it's not trying to cut funding altogether, just review it to make sure it all aligns with the Trump

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