The Morning Sixpack - September 29, 2025
Trump rallies military brass, Adams exits in disgrace, Gaza burns, RFK targets abortion pills, and chaos brews in NYC politics.
Trump Dares Democrats to Blink First as Shutdown Showdown Looms
Trump is openly betting that a government shutdown will break Democrats before it hurts him.
In a weekend phone interview, the president made it clear that unless Democrats back off their spending demands, the federal government will grind to a halt.
“I just don’t know how we are going to solve this issue,” Trump told CBS News, while predicting that voters will blame Democrats for any lapse in funding.
He meets with congressional leaders Monday, just hours before the October 1 deadline to keep Washington’s lights on.
Behind the scenes, Trump’s camp isn’t exactly sweating a shutdown. A source close to him told CBS that he “privately welcomes” it—because it gives him cover to use executive power to slash programs and payrolls he doesn’t like.
Federal agencies have already been told to prep layoff plans, including targeting employees in programs “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
Trump has framed the impasse as a fight over fraud, waste, and border control, accusing Democrats of prioritizing ACA subsidies over fiscal sanity. “The Democrats, incredibly, want to keep their old policies of open borders, and we’re not going to have it,” he said, insisting any deal on health care must tie into immigration enforcement. Democrats counter that Trump is misrepresenting the law, noting undocumented immigrants can’t legally receive Medicaid anyway.
Congress, meanwhile, is split between dueling stopgap bills. House Republicans passed a measure funding the government through Nov. 21, while Democrats pushed their own Oct. 31 proposal with healthcare funding sweeteners and restored cuts to Medicaid and public broadcasters. Neither advanced in the Senate. “This decision, in my judgment at this point in time, is up to a handful of Democrats,” said Sen. John Thune, pinning the outcome on whether eight Democrats break ranks.
Democrats are holding firm. “Donald Trump knows, or at least I think he knows, that current federal law prohibits using taxpayer dollars for undocumented immigrants in connection with their health care. And no one is trying to change or reverse that law,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar added that her party is united on healthcare, accusing Republicans of manufacturing a crisis that’s driving up insurance premiums nationwide.
Source: CBS News
Editor: Trump treating a shutdown like a feature, not a bug, tells you everything you need to know about his governing style—it’s power politics by demolition derby.
MORE
Shutdown Standoff: Trump Digs In, Democrats Refuse to Blink as Deadline Nears
The U.S. government is lurching toward a shutdown, and both parties are more interested in playing chicken than cutting a deal.
Democratic and Republican leaders are headed to the White House for a last-ditch meeting with President Trump on Monday, but neither side is giving an inch. If no funding bill is passed and signed by Tuesday night, federal offices will close and workers will be furloughed, rippling through the economy. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the meeting “a first step, but only a first step,” signaling no quick resolution is likely.
Editor: This is the first step? ONE DAY before the deadline? We’re fucked.
Republicans are daring Democrats to block a short-term funding bill that keeps spending at current levels, while Democrats are holding their line: extend Affordable Care Act tax credits for millions, or face the consequences. Trump isn’t budging. “If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down,” he said Friday. “But they’re the ones that are shutting down government.” His administration has already floated the threat of permanent layoffs to ratchet up pressure.
Democrats see Trump’s willingness to meet as a sign he’s feeling the heat. They’re betting that because Republicans control both Congress and the White House, voters will blame the GOP for any shutdown fallout. But that strategy comes with risk. To keep their leverage, Senate Democrats will likely have to vote down the stopgap bill just hours before a shutdown—an awkward stance for a party that has long railed against shutdowns as destructive political theater.
The numbers aren’t in Democrats’ favor. Any deal needs 60 Senate votes, meaning at least eight Democrats would have to cross over. Schumer has been burned before: in March, he faced party backlash for helping advance a GOP funding bill. This time, he’s signaling zero retreat. “We’re hearing from the American people that they need help on health care and as for these massive layoffs, guess what? Simple one-sentence answer: They’re doing it anyway,” he said.
The White House meeting is a Hail Mary. Past negotiations between Trump and Democrats have mostly gone down in flames—August’s talks ended with Trump telling Schumer to “go to hell” online. Last week, Trump abruptly canceled another meeting, blasting Democrats’ demands as “unserious and ridiculous.” Whether Monday’s gathering produces progress or just more posturing is anyone’s guess, but the clock is ticking.
Source: AP News
Editor: This isn’t governing—it’s a political cage match with millions of livelihoods dangling as collateral. Trump’s already framing the blame game, Democrats are gambling on optics, and federal workers are about to pay the tab.
Michigan Church Attack Leaves Four Dead in Targeted Rampage
A Sunday worship service turned into a deadly inferno when a man rammed his truck into a Michigan church, opened fire, and set the building ablaze.
Authorities say 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford drove his vehicle into the front doors of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, then launched a coordinated assault that killed four people and injured several others. Sanford was shot and killed by police after exchanging gunfire during his attempted escape. The Keystone Kops FBI has taken over the case, calling it an act of targeted violence, though no motive has been released.
The scene was chaotic and devastating. The truck crash and gunfire were followed by a fast-moving blaze that overwhelmed local crews. With manpower stretched thin, parts of the church collapsed as firefighters battled a five-alarm inferno. Victims were trapped inside as the fire spread; two more bodies were found later in the evening. The building was declared a “total loss,” and investigators discovered Sanford had used gasoline as an accelerant. Authorities also investigated potential explosive devices but have not confirmed their use.
Witnesses described the attack erupting just as the congregation began taking sacrament. “I heard a loud noise and saw the front wall had cracked. I thought it was an accident,” one worshipper told Fox 2 Detroit. Then came the realization: a truck with American flags had deliberately rammed the building, and Sanford opened fire with an assault rifle before setting the blaze and trying to flee. Ten victims were hospitalized, many in critical condition.
The attack came just a day after the death of Russell Nelson, the church’s president since 2018, and amid a series of recent mass shootings that have kept the nation on edge. President Trump called the incident “yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States,” while Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned the violence, calling it “unacceptable.” FBI Director Kash Patel labeled the attack “cowardly and criminal” (he would know), as multiple federal agencies rushed to assist.
Community members gathered at reunification sites as the fire raged and emergency crews worked through the night. “Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer, and connection,” the church said in a statement, offering gratitude to first responders and prayers for victims. Authorities have not determined Sanford’s motive, but the coordinated nature of the assault and the timing have raised alarms nationwide.
Source: Newsweek
Editor: This wasn’t random—it was calculated, brutal, and aimed at a congregation in worship. And once again, we’re left picking through ashes while politicians recycle their ‘thoughts and prayers’ scripts. There are several recurring themes in these horrific mass shootings: Guns, religion, and ideology. Oh, and white men.
RFK Jr. and Trump’s FDA Are Gunning for Abortion Pills—Using the Tylenol Playbook
The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to restrict abortion pills, and they’re doing it with the same junk-science strategy they just used to toast Tylenol.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary quietly informed Republican-led states that the agency is reviewing the “safety and efficacy” of mifepristone—the abortion pill used in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions.
More than 100 studies have already confirmed the drug is safe. But anti-abortion activists see telehealth prescriptions of abortion pills as the biggest threat to their state-level bans—and they’re pushing hard for federal restrictions to do what courts and legislatures haven’t fully accomplished yet.
The FDA’s letter, sent Sept. 19 in response to Republican attorneys general, signals a potential rollback of the rules that currently allow abortion pills to be prescribed remotely and used up to 10 weeks into pregnancy. The letter even cites a deeply flawed “study” from the far-right Ethics and Public Policy Center, a group tied to Project 2025, which calls for ending telemedicine abortion entirely. As Stella Dantas, former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, put it, the study “manipulates data to drive a myth that medication abortion isn’t safe.” But Makary and Kennedy are treating it like gospel.
The strategy mirrors last week’s Tylenol fiasco, when Trump and Kennedy used a single weak study to claim that acetaminophen use during pregnancy might cause autism.
“Pregnant women should not take Tylenol unless they have a high fever and can’t tough it out,” Trump said at a press conference.
Medical experts shredded the move, pointing out that untreated pain and fever are far more dangerous to mothers and babies than the theoretical risks. Yet the FDA announced it was forcing Tylenol to change its label anyway—despite decades of evidence supporting its safety.
This coordinated one-two punch could have real consequences. If abortion pills become harder to access, more women will face unwanted pregnancies, and they’ll be navigating new, fear-based medical guidance that discourages safe pain relief during pregnancy. That’s a recipe for worse maternal health outcomes, especially for people already living in states with abortion bans. As ACOG warned, untreated conditions like fever and headaches can signal life-threatening complications like pre-eclampsia and should never be dismissed.
By cherry-picking data to justify predetermined outcomes, the administration is positioning itself to gut abortion access nationwide—without passing a single new law. And if their Tylenol stunt is any indication, facts aren’t going to slow them down.
Source: My Daily Grind News
Editor: They’re not even hiding the playbook—they’re photocopying it. First Tylenol, now abortion pills. If you can’t win the science, just rewrite it.
Gaza’s Land Is Dying Alongside Its People—And That’s No Accident
Israel’s war on Gaza isn’t just killing people—it’s systematically destroying the land itself, turning a once self-sufficient region into a toxic wasteland.
While videos show flattened neighborhoods and bombed-out buildings, what’s less visible is the slow-motion environmental purposeful destruction: farmland razed, aquifers poisoned, and ecosystems shredded beyond recognition. Before the assault began, Gaza farmed 40% of its land and fed millions locally. Now, according to the UN, just 1.5% of its agricultural land remains accessible and undamaged—a starvation strategy masquerading as security policy.
Israeli ground forces have bulldozed orchards, leveled greenhouses, sprayed herbicides, and expanded buffer zones across Gaza’s eastern border, where most farmland lies.
As human rights expert Hamza Hamouchene observes, rather than “making the desert bloom,” Israel is turning fertile land into desert. Olive trees—both economically vital and symbolically powerful—have been uprooted for decades, severing Palestinians’ connection to their land and guaranteeing famine when paired with the ongoing blockade.
The ecological devastation doesn’t stop at the soil. Wastewater systems have collapsed, flooding fields and aquifers with raw sewage. Rubble from relentless bombing—averaging 107 kilograms per square meter—is laced with asbestos, heavy metals, and potentially white phosphorus. Saltwater flooding of Hamas tunnels is threatening Gaza’s only coastal aquifer with irreversible contamination. Meanwhile, toxic dust and smoke hang in the air, triggering health crises even for those who survive the bombs.
The environmental damage is both deliberate and immense. Carbon emissions from the war and any future reconstruction are astronomical—on par with the annual greenhouse output of a mid-sized nation.
Palestinian ecologist Mazin Qumsiyeh calls it what it is: “Environmental degradation is not incidental—it is intentional, protracted, and aimed at breaking the eco-sumud (ecological steadfastness) of the Palestinian people.”
When genocide and ecocide operate in tandem, the goal becomes painfully clear: a land without its people, and a people without their land. Turning Gaza into a barren, uninhabitable strip clears the way for future development projects—like the so-called “Gaza Riviera”—envisioned by Trump and Israeli politicians. Trees, soil, and history are inconvenient obstacles for those plans. Justice, if it ever comes, will arrive long after the damage has been done.
Source: The Guardian
Editor: When you salt the earth, bulldoze the orchards, and poison the water, you’re not “fighting terrorists”—you’re erasing a civilization with bureaucratic precision.
Eric Adams Bows Out of NYC Mayor’s Race After Trump Lunch and Mounting Scandals
Eric Adams’ political freefall hit bottom this week as he abruptly dropped out of the New York City mayor’s race—after cozying up to Trump and alienating just about everyone else.
The embattled Democrat, elected in 2021, had already raised eyebrows when he jetted to Florida for lunch with Donald Trump and then attended the former president’s inauguration in January—a move widely seen as an attempt to make his federal investigation magically disappear. For many New Yorkers, that was the breaking point in a mayoralty already marred by crises, controversies, and plummeting poll numbers.
Adams’ exit comes too late to be removed from the November 4 ballot, meaning voters will still see his name even though he’s out of the running. Recent polls had him sinking to fourth place, trailing progressive frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and even Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa—the Guardian Angels founder best known for his red beret and love of cats.
Adams, notably, didn’t endorse anyone on his way out but warned voters to “beware of those who claim the answer is to destroy the very system we built together over generations. That is not change, that is chaos.”
According to The New York Times, Adams originally drafted sharper barbs for Cuomo, accusing him of waffling on key issues and power-grabbing, though those lines were quietly cut before the speech went public. His departure is likely to shake up the race, though how much remains unclear. Polling suggests Cuomo will pick up some of Adams’ support, but Mamdani still holds a comfortable lead.
Meanwhile, Sliwa is staying in, muddying the math for Trump, who—ever the political meddler—has openly expressed a preference for Cuomo, a longtime ally. “I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one-on-one,” Trump said earlier this month. “And I think that’s a race that could be won.” For now, Mamdani remains the candidate to beat, but New York politics has a way of staying messy until the last possible second.
Source: Vanity Fair
Editor: Adams tried to triangulate between Democrats, Republicans, and Trump, and ended up alienating all three. His mayoralty didn’t end with a bang—it fizzled out mid–press release.
BONUS
Trump Plans Mass Gathering of Military Brass Just Days Before Potential Shutdown
President Trump will meet with hundreds of senior military officers near Washington this week—an unprecedented gathering raising eyebrows for both its timing and its secrecy.
Trump confirmed Sunday that he’ll attend the Tuesday meeting at Quantico Marine Corps Base, calling it “a very nice meeting” focused on morale and military readiness. “We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps?’ That’s all it’s about,” he told NBC News. But behind the upbeat rhetoric, the event’s purpose hasn’t been clearly explained to senior military leaders, sparking unease in Pentagon circles.
The meeting, organized by Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, will bring together all 800 senior officers at the rank of brigadier general and above—many of whom will be flying in from posts around the world. Thousands of additional personnel, aides, and security staff are expected to descend on Quantico for the event. According to The Washington Post, the unusual scale and lack of clear agenda have already triggered heightened security concerns.
The timing is hard to ignore. The gathering comes during a potential government shutdown, with budget negotiations stalled and the administration warning of mass layoffs and furloughs if Congress doesn’t reach a funding deal. Trump is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders Monday to try to break the impasse. Holding a massive, closed-door military meeting in this political moment has more than a few people wondering what message is really being sent.
Adding to the intrigue, senior officers reportedly weren’t briefed on why their attendance was mandatory. The Congressional Research Service noted that all generals and admirals at the required rank must show up, making this effectively a full upper-echelon roll call. With the administration already flexing executive power in other areas, critics say this meeting could be more about politics than “esprit de corps.”
Whether this is a genuine leadership huddle or a power play dressed up as a pep rally, the optics are clear: Trump is convening the military’s top brass at a sensitive political moment, and no one outside his inner circle seems to know why.
Source: UPI
Editor: Putting all your military leaders in one room days before a fiscal cliff isn’t “esprit de corps.” It’s a plotline from a Tom Clancy novel. If I were a betting man, two things would have the potential of occurring here:
This is a perfect opportunity for Hegseth & Trump to “retire” generals that haven’t shown loyalty ot Dear Leader, and
It’s also a perfect opportunity for one of iyr many geopolitical adversaries to make a risky chess move.