The Morning Sixpack - October 8, 2025
Trump’s shutdown chaos, troop deployments, and health care fight collide—families, flyers, and governors all caught in his political war games.
Troops Land in Illinois as Trump Pushes Military Into Blue States
National Guard troops from Texas rolled into Illinois, setting up camp near Chicago without so much as a courtesy call to the state’s governor.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blasted the move, accusing Trump of using soldiers as “political props” and “pawns.” He said he canceled his weekend waiting for a call from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but added, “They have not picked up the phone and called me. Not once.” Meanwhile, portable toilets and fencing were rolled in at the Army Reserve Center in Elwood, turning it into a staging ground.
The mission? Still fuzzy. Officially, the administration hasn’t spelled it out, but it comes as Trump intensifies immigration crackdowns in major cities, particularly targeting Latino neighborhoods. This is despite Chicago’s crime data showing a 31% drop in homicides this year. Trump, of course, continues to describe the city as a “hell hole.”
Illinois and Chicago leaders are suing to block what they call “Trump’s long-declared ‘War’” on the state. Courts are already involved in Portland, where a judge blocked a similar deployment. Oregon’s governor put it bluntly: “There’s no insurrection here.” Still, Trump is dangling the Insurrection Act to justify military policing.
This is part of a broader plan—Trump’s already sent or floated sending troops to at least ten cities, even though crime rates are down across the board. Federal officials say it’s about “safety,” but the optics reek of campaign theater more than genuine law enforcement.
Source: Associated Press
Editor: Nothing screams “law and order” like parachuting Texas troops into Illinois while the governor finds out from reporters. It’s political cosplay with camo and porta-potties. This isn’t about crime stats—it’s about optics. Trump is replaying his greatest hits tour of chaos, except this time, the stage is taxpayer-funded and the audience is forced to participate.
Poll Shows Most Americans Don’t Want Trump’s Troops Patrolling U.S. Cities
A majority of Americans say troops should only be sent to confront foreign enemies—not their fellow neighbors—as Trump ramps up military deployments to U.S. streets.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 58% of Americans—including 70% of Democrats and more than half of Republicans—believe the president should only send armed troops to face external threats. The survey also shows Trump’s approval rating dipping to 40%, with growing discontent over his handling of crime and rising household costs. In short: people aren’t buying the “enemy within” routine.
The poll was conducted as Trump summoned hundreds of generals and admirals to Virginia and warned them about internal enemies, all while deploying National Guard troops to more Democratic-led cities like Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Democratic leaders are calling the deployments nakedly political and have gone to court to block them. Trump responded by threatening to invoke an 18th-century anti-insurrection law to bulldoze state objections.
The American public isn’t thrilled with that idea. Only 37% agreed that presidents should have the power to send troops into states over governors’ objections, while nearly half—48%—flat-out disagreed. And 83% said the military should stay politically neutral, which is basically a polite way of saying “don’t use soldiers as campaign extras.”
Trump’s numbers keep sliding. His approval on crime is now at 41%, down from 43% in early September. Overall, his approval has dropped seven points since Inauguration Day. Deploying troops against your own citizens may play well in the fever swamps, but it’s clearly wearing thin with the general public.
Source: Reuters
Editor: Turns out Americans aren’t exactly clamoring for armored convoys rolling through Los Angeles to fight whatever imaginary “insurrection” Trump’s cooking up this week. When you’re losing both soccer moms and retired generals in the same news cycle, that’s not strategy—it’s flailing.
Trump’s Shutdown Threat Leaves Military Families Facing Empty Pantries and Unpaid Bills
Military families are bracing for missed paychecks and stocking up at food pantries as Trump floats the idea that troops might not get paid during the government shutdown.
Service members received their October 1st paycheck, but the uncertainty around October 15 has left families scrambling—canceling after-school programs, lining up potential loans, and rationing food. One military spouse said bluntly: “We should never put our troops in this position. We should never put their families in this position. The economy for military spouses is tough enough as it is.”
Trump is muddying the waters despite signing a 2019 law guaranteeing back pay during shutdowns. His own budget office now insists Congress has to decide whether troops get paid, while Trump hedges with statements like, “I follow the law, and what the law says is correct,” even after saying, “There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of.” That’s not exactly reassuring when you’re trying to keep the lights on.
The fallout is already real: Parents are losing childcare options, kids are losing extracurriculars—including programs crucial for college admissions—and families are losing their financial cushion. As one spouse explained, “We don’t have that cushion of a second income always. It’s not a guarantee.” Even Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth conceded that training exercises—and service members’ pay tied to them—could be disrupted.
For many, the frustration isn’t just financial, it’s personal. “I feel like this presidency is failing us,” one military spouse said. “Instead of being united, we’re being divided, and I feel like supporting the troops should be a bipartisan issue, period.” Another spouse mocked Hegseth’s priorities: “You are basically telling these people, ‘Okay, now you’re not going to get paid and you are going to get kicked out if you don’t shave.’”
Source: Raw Story
Editor: So here we are—military families, already stretched thin, waiting in food pantry lines while Trump plays budget brinksmanship. Nothing says “support the troops” like threatening their paychecks while demanding clean-shaven faces. The man can’t even keep his story straight about a law he signed. This isn’t leadership—it’s chaos in uniform.
And when kids lose homework club and parents lose childcare because of a stunt in Washington, the message is crystal clear: Trump’s “America First” doesn’t include the people who actually serve America.
Health Care Fight Deepens as Shutdown Standoff Splits Republicans and Emboldens Democrats
Democrats are refusing to reopen the government without a permanent extension of enhanced ObamaCare subsidies, and Republicans are starting to crack under the pressure.
President Trump has tried to strong-arm Democrats by threatening federal workers’ pay and mass firings, but the GOP’s united front is fraying. Even Trump himself briefly signaled openness to a deal before backtracking on Truth Social, demanding Democrats first fund the government with no strings attached. Meanwhile, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called a one-year extension a “nonstarter,” blasting Republicans for handing billionaires permanent tax breaks while asking families to accept temporary health coverage.
The intraparty squabble broke into the open when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted online that she was “absolutely disgusted” premiums could double if subsidies expire. Her words were so pointed that Chuck Schumer read them aloud on the Senate floor. Speaker Mike Johnson tried to dismiss her as uninformed, but the genie was already out of the bottle. As Johnson keeps House Republicans home to “apply pressure,” Democrats are painting the GOP as the party willing to let Americans’ premiums skyrocket.
Sen. Josh Hawley admitted, “We can’t just allow the credits to expire and allow people’s premiums to double. I mean, it’s like over 400,000 people in Missouri.” Others, like Sen. Thom Tillis, hinted they’re open to negotiations but accused Democrats of playing hostage politics. The problem for Republicans is that the math doesn’t care about talking points—tens of millions face massive hikes unless something gets done.
Conservatives argue the subsidies are relics of COVID, bloated with fraud and too expensive at $35 billion a year. But even Sen. Roger Marshall, who railed against fraud, admitted, “I think I’m willing to talk about any of it. There’s 15 different knobs we can turn here.” Democrats smell blood, with Schumer and Patty Murray openly gloating that Republicans are being forced into the health care debate—a fight Democrats are only too happy to have as the shutdown drags on.
Source: The Hill
Editor: The GOP’s health care playbook hasn’t changed since 2010: promise to repeal, stall when reality bites, then blame someone else when premiums spike. Now they’re stuck fighting with Marjorie Taylor Greene in public while Schumer gleefully reads her posts into the Congressional Record.
If Republicans think Americans are going to cheer higher premiums just to punish Democrats, they’re living in a fantasyland where facts don’t apply and everyone pays cash for chemo.
Shutdown Chaos Grounds Flights as Air Traffic Control Shortages Ripple Across the U.S.
Flight delays are piling up nationwide as the government shutdown cripples air traffic control staffing, forcing airports from Newark to Burbank into costly ground stops and leaving travelers stranded.
Twelve FAA facilities reported staffing shortages Monday, followed by another half-dozen Tuesday, triggering cascading delays across major hubs. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed a “slight tick-up in sick calls” as unpaid controllers weigh second jobs to make ends meet. “If we see there’s issues in the tower that are affecting controllers’ ability to effectively control the airspace, we’ll reduce the rate, and you’ll see more delays or you might see a cancellation,” Duffy warned. Translation: Buckle up—this could get worse fast.
The ripple effects are hitting airports coast to coast. Nashville saw the first official ground stop of the shutdown after controller shortages forced operations to a halt for 90 minutes. Newark and Denver reported average delays of 53 and 39 minutes, respectively, while Hollywood Burbank Airport was hit hardest—losing all tower staff for more than five hours Monday. California Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly blasted Trump, writing, “Burbank Airport has ZERO air traffic controllers from 4:15pm to 10pm today because of YOUR government shutdown.”
The controller shortage isn’t new, but the shutdown is pouring gasoline on an already smoldering fire. NATCA, the union representing more than 20,000 controllers, says its members are working exhausting schedules without pay while safety support staff are furloughed. The system, already fragile due to years of underhiring and ancient technology, is now at the breaking point. “We need to bring this shutdown to a close so that the FAA and the committed aviation safety professionals can put this distraction aside and focus completely on their vital work,” said Nick Daniels, NATCA president.
The impact isn’t limited to big-city airports. Duffy warned that the Essential Air Service program, which keeps flights running to 170 rural communities, could run out of funding by Sunday, potentially grounding regional carriers in states like Alaska. With airlines threatening to pull service and controller pipelines stalled, the longer the shutdown drags on, the closer America edges to an aviation system held together with duct tape and sheer luck.
Source: NPR
Editor: The country that put a man on the moon is now delaying flights because its air traffic control system is held together by overworked staff, floppy disks, and political brinksmanship. Trump’s shutdown is turning airports into pressure cookers—and we’re all the passengers stuck on the tarmac.
Pritzker Says Trump’s Troop Deployments Are Fueled by ‘Dementia and Obsessions’
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker torched Donald Trump on Tuesday, accusing the president of deploying National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland out of “dementia” and irrational fixations.
“This is a man who’s suffering dementia,” Pritzker told the Chicago Tribune. “This is a man who has something stuck in his head. He can’t get it out of his head. He doesn’t read. He doesn’t know anything that’s up to date.” Pritzker said Trump is abusing the “power of the military” to indulge his obsessions, calling the deployments both unnecessary and unconstitutional.
National Guard troops from Texas and Illinois are being stationed in the Chicago area for at least 60 days, over the objections of state leaders. Illinois and Chicago have filed suit to block the move, citing violations of the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from enforcing domestic law. Trump, meanwhile, is openly considering invoking the centuries-old Insurrection Act to steamroll governors and sidestep the courts.
Pritzker made clear he intends to fight Trump in court, not on the ground. “We’re not going to go to war between the state of Illinois and the federal government,” he said. “But we are monitoring everything they’re doing, and using that monitoring to win in court.” He also dismissed chatter about a “soft secession” by Democratic states, insisting the law—not illegal maneuvers—will be his weapon.
Trump, for his part, is leaning into history to justify his threat, pointing to past invocations of the Insurrection Act from George Washington’s Whiskey Rebellion to George H.W. Bush’s deployment during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. But unlike those cases, Trump is pushing military deployments over the objections of governors, a flashpoint that has courts and local leaders on edge.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Editor: When a sitting governor is openly suggesting the president’s mental decline is driving troop deployments, we’re in uncharted territory. Trump’s fallback on the Insurrection Act is less about protecting Americans and more about flexing power against political enemies. This isn’t law and order—it’s paranoia with tanks.