The Morning Sixpack - July 16, 2025

Trump’s Fed firing threat, voter data grab, fentanyl funding cuts & China AI challenge signal deep political and economic turmoil ahead

Trump Pulls 2,000 National Guard Troops Out of Los Angeles Amidst Fallout from Immigration Raids

The Trump administration has abruptly recalled 2,000 National Guard troops deployed in Los Angeles, signaling a shift after weeks of mounting tensions.

The troops were initially sent in last month by President Trump to control protests sparked by aggressive immigration raids conducted by ICE agents. The crackdown inflamed local outrage, drawing criticism from California’s leadership and igniting citywide demonstrations.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the troop withdrawal was ordered as “lawlessness in Los Angeles is subsiding,” but make no mistake—the political firestorm is far from over.

California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed the deployment as unconstitutional, accusing Trump of escalating violence rather than calming it.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass hailed the recall as a win for community activism, crediting peaceful protests and legal challenges.

“This happened because the people of Los Angeles stood united and stood strong,” Bass declared, vowing to keep fighting against policies she sees as harmful not just locally but nationwide.

The recall may ease immediate tensions on the ground, but the deeper conflicts over immigration enforcement and federal overreach will persist well beyond the troops’ departure. Trump's immigration policies continue to provoke fierce debate, and California’s leadership has made clear they will resist at every turn.

Source: UPI

Minnesota Shooter Claims Governor Ordered Assassinations in Bizarre Confession Letter

Vance Boelter, accused of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, claims in a handwritten letter that Governor Tim Walz secretly ordered him to assassinate U.S. senators because “Tim wants to be senator.”

The letter, found in Boelter’s alleged getaway car and addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel, was made public by federal prosecutors alongside new murder charges. Oh, the DOJ can release this letter but not the Epstein files. Interesting…

Boelter, 57, is also charged with shooting state Sen. John Hoffman, his wife, and daughter, all of whom survived. The indictment includes attempted murder charges related to that attack.

Boelter describes himself in the letter as a former U.S. military operative who believed he was serving his country but says he was coerced into the killings after threats against his family. However, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson calls the letter a confusing mix of fantasy and possible delusion designed to excuse Boelter’s actions.

“Was it a delusion that he believes, or was it a delusion that is designed as an effort to misdirect our investigation or to, frankly, excuse his crimes? Well, that’s a good question,” Thompson said.

Authorities say Boelter acted alone and continue to investigate his motives. They found notebooks listing numerous political figures and lawyers, mostly Democrats, inside a fake police vehicle he used during the attacks. Prosecutors have indicated Boelter may face the death penalty if convicted, though that decision is months away.

“This has been a terrible personal tragedy for the Hoffman and Hortman families, and it’s something that has rocked the entire state of Minnesota and even the country,” Thompson added. Boelter’s defense plans to plead not guilty and may seek mental health evaluations as the case moves forward.

Pretty confident that he’s guilty. And he’s crazy. He should be locked away forever for premeditated murder. Case close.

Source: Washington Post (gift article)

China’s Moonshot AI Takes on Silicon Valley with a Low-Cost Language Model that Packs a Punch

China’s AI startup Moonshot just dropped Kimi K2, a language model that’s giving US tech giants a serious run for their money—at a fraction of the cost.

This isn’t some one-off fluke. Industry watchers say Moonshot’s release proves the “DeepSeek moment” from earlier this year wasn’t just a flash in the pan, but a sign that China is rapidly closing the gap in AI innovation. As tech writer Azeem Azhar put it, if DeepSeek was the Sputnik moment that shattered Western tech dominance, Kimi K2 is Yuri Gagarin proving it wasn’t luck.

Meanwhile, the US continues to throw tariffs around like confetti, now threatening pharmaceutical and chip imports, adding fuel to a global trade fire that’s already hurting businesses and consumers worldwide. The ripple effects from these policies are starting to show in inflation data, complicating the Federal Reserve’s rate decisions.

It doesn’t help U.S. AI companies that Trump just greenlighted Nvidia’s sales of advanced AI chips to China. America First my ass.

Source: Semafor

Trump’s Fed Election Data Grab Sets Off Alarm Bells Across States Ahead of 2026 Midterms

The Trump administration is pushing federal power deeper into state-run elections, demanding voter data and access to voting machines—and state officials aren’t having it.

In Colorado, a battleground state Trump lost by 11 points, a well-connected consultant claiming White House ties has been pressing county clerks to let federal agents “inspect” election equipment, sparking fierce pushback.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is requesting full voter rolls from at least nine states, raising fears of an unprecedented federal overreach into election management.

Election officials from both parties warn this isn’t just routine oversight—it’s a “power grab” fueled by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

David Becker, a former DOJ election official, put it bluntly: “If accepted by the states, this extraordinary federal imposition will be absolutely used by Democrats in another context.” Translation: It sets a dangerous precedent no party should want.

That’s only if you believe elections as we know them will ever be held again. I find that a little to “hopey and changy” for me.

Even GOP clerks in Colorado are drawing lines in the sand. Carly Koppes, a Republican clerk in Weld County, said flatly, “Nobody gets access to my voting equipment, for security reasons.” And with more than 350 election officials across 33 states sounding the alarm in a recent conference call, this fight is only heating up.

This all feels like a replay of 2020’s divisive election tactics—just turned up to eleven. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called it “the 2020 playbook on steroids.”

Federal overreach into elections constitutionally designed to be state-controlled is a path we shouldn’t even think about.

Source: Washington Post

Trump Administration’s Delay of $140M in Fentanyl Response Funds Risks Reversing Overdose Progress

The Trump administration’s hold-up—and possible cancelation—of $140 million in federal grants aimed at fighting fentanyl overdoses is putting thousands of lives on the line.

According to insiders at the CDC, this critical funding disruption threatens to trigger layoffs and shutdowns of addiction response programs across 49 states, just as public health officials were beginning to see a decline in overdose deaths.

One CDC staffer warned, “The announcement alone could trigger layoffs and program shutdowns. It could really start a chain reaction that’s hard to come back from.”

State and local health departments call the Overdose Data To Action (OD2A) grants essential to tackling fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other drug crises. Chrissie Juliano of the Big Cities Health Coalition said, “Any changes to funding levels would be catastrophic and would really send us backwards.”

Yet, bureaucratic confusion tied to Trump’s cost-cutting push has slowed, and possibly jeopardized, this lifesaving aid.

Experts fear that cutting these funds could unravel recently expanded drug treatment networks, hampering efforts to monitor toxic substances flooding the streets.

Stanford researcher Keith Humphreys put it plainly: “We’re just increasingly putting ourselves in the dark… If public health officials don’t know what’s in the drugs, they can’t warn the public.”

With fentanyl deaths still at alarming levels, now is exactly the wrong time to slash resources. Dr. Benjamin Linas warned that insurance losses tied to federal cuts could add 1,000 overdose deaths annually. Frankly, this funding freeze looks like throwing in the towel just as the tide was turning.

Or, as with nearly everything Trump, it was all bullshit in the first place to make a case for closing the borders (yes, both of them), building a wall, and deporting a bunch of non-whites to countries they aren’t even from.

Source: NPR

Trump Eyes Firing Fed Chair Powell Over $2.5 Billion Building Renovation Blowup

President Trump is zeroing in on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s $2.5 billion renovation project as his latest—and very legally shaky—excuse to try to oust him.

Trump’s months-long feud with Powell, who has resisted lowering interest rates amid inflation worries, now takes a new twist: The White House is pointing to massive overruns in renovating two Fed buildings as grounds for firing Powell “for cause.”

Trump called the price tag “disgraceful” and questioned why the Fed chair would need a “palace” at taxpayer expense.

The renovation itself is no small affair. The Fed’s main building, nearly a century old, needs serious upgrades to outdated electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems—plus asbestos removal and modernization to keep the sprawling operation running efficiently. Rising construction costs, local building restrictions, and additional safety work pushed the budget way beyond initial estimates.

White House officials have even criticized Powell for scaling back parts of the project to save money, accusing him of acting unethically by deviating from approved plans.

This contradictory take reeks more of political maneuvering than budget oversight.

Powell has pushed back, denying the existence of VIP dining rooms or rooftop gardens the critics cite, and has called for an independent inspector general review of the project’s costs.

Firing Powell over a renovation budget would undermine the Fed’s political independence and could trigger financial chaos, but none of this is out of the norm for Trump.

Source: AP News