President Donald Trump’s recent steps to remove federal employees is drawing comparisons to government purges during the Red Scare of the 1950s. What’s at stake when government workers are pushed out? We’ll break it down. Plus, we’ll explain why a ruling in one of the lawsuits over Trump’s funding freeze is a biggie. Finally, tell us something good that happened to you lately!

Here’s everything we talked about today: 

• “Judge Rules That Trump Administration Defied Order to Unfreeze Billions in Federal Grants” from The New York Times

• “Trump Eases Enforcement of Law Banning Overseas Bribes” by Bloomberg

• “What Happened the Last Time a President Purged the Bureaucracy” from Politico

• “CBS News poll — Trump has positive approval amid ‘energetic’ opening weeks; seen as doing what he promised” by CBS News

• “Second pig kidney transplant successfully completed at Massachusetts General Hospital” from WCVB Channel 5

• “Experimental transplants with organs from gene-edited pigs see major steps forward” from CNN

• “A campus sign said ‘Tell us something good.’ Students delivered.” by The Washington Post

Tell us something good that happened to you recently! Email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.