Today in one sentence: Trump demanded that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker “be in jail”; former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding; the FBI fired three agents tied to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election; Democratic voting rights groups warned that Republicans could gain up to 19 new House seats if the Supreme Court dismantles Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; Speaker Mike Johnson reversed course and said Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva won’t be sworn in until Democrats agree to reopen the government; and the Senate failed for the sixth time to advance a short-term funding bill, extending the government shutdown into its second week.

1/ Trump demanded that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker “be in jail,” saying they “failed to protect ICE officers” and had “blood on their hands.” Neither has been accused of a crime. “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested,” Johnson said. Pritzker added, “Come and get me,” calling Trump a “wannabe dictator” who is attempting to “justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command”. Illinois and the city are suing to stop what they call an unconstitutional military deployment. “Illinois will not let the Trump administration continue on their authoritarian march without resisting,” Pritzker said. “We will use every lever at our disposal to stop this power grab because military troops should not be used against American communities.” He also called the deployment an “invasion” and said Trump “is a man who’s suffering dementia.” Texas National Guard troops have arrived at an Army Reserve base in Illinois ahead of Thursday’s court hearing on the state and city’s lawsuit. Trump officials, meanwhile, are actively debating whether to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops in U.S. cities. The discussions have reportedly moved from whether to use the law to how and when to implement it. (Wall Street Journal / Reuters / Axios / NBC News / Associated Press / Bloomberg / New York Times / The Guardian / Chicago Sun-Times / NBC Chicago / Politico / Washington Post / Chicago Tribune / The Hill / Washington Post / ABC News / NBC News)

  • poll/ 58% of Americans said Trump should send armed troops only to face external threats. 83% said the military “should remain politically neutral and not take a side in domestic policy debates.” 37% supported allowing presidents to deploy troops to states without governors’ consent, while 48% opposed it. Trump’s approval rating, meanwhile, fell to 40%. (Reuters)

2/ Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding. The indictment followed Trump publicly demanding that the Justice Department prosecute Comey and firing the U.S. attorney who had refused to bring charges. Trump then appointed Lindsey Halligan, a former personal attorney with no prosecutorial experience, who filed the two-count indictment days before the statute of limitations expired. “This prosecution is brought at the direction of President Trump,” Comey’s lawyer told the court, calling it “vindictive” and “outrageous government conduct,” and said he will challenge Halligan’s appointment as “unlawful.” Internal Justice Department memos declining charges are expected to be central to the defense, and career prosecutors warned the key witness would be “problematic,” creating “likely insurmountable problems” and that evidence was “insufficient.” Judge Michael Nachmanoff set trial for Jan. 5 and said the case “does not appear to me to be an overly complicated one.” (Associated Press / NBC News / CNN / New York Times / CNBC / Washington Post / ABC News / Wall Street Journal)

3/ The FBI fired three agents tied to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Director Kash Patel confirmed the firings and said he “blew up” the FBI corruption unit that used a grand jury subpoena in 2023 to obtain phone toll records for eight Republican senators, claiming the agents “weaponized law enforcement.” (Axios / NBC News)

4/ Democratic voting rights groups warned that Republicans could gain up to 19 new House seats if the Supreme Court dismantles Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In an upcoming case later this month, Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court will decide whether Louisiana’s creation of a second majority-Black congressional district to remedy racial vote dilution violates the Constitution. A new report from Fair Fight Action and the Black Voters Matter Fund said such a ruling would “clear the path for a one-party system where power serves the powerful and silences the people,” according to LaTosha Brown, the group’s co-founder. The report found that as many as 30% of Congressional Black Caucus members and 11% of Congressional Hispanic Caucus members could be effectively redistricted out of their seats, erasing most Democratic representation in several southern states. (Politico / Salon)

5/ Speaker Mike Johnson reversed course and said Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva won’t be sworn in until Democrats agree to reopen the government, despite promising to do so “as soon as she wants.” Democrats accused Johnson of blocking the swearing-in to stop a vote on releasing Jeffrey Epstein-related files, which Grijalva’s signature would enable. Johnson called that claim “totally absurd,” saying the delay “has nothing to do with Epstein.” (CNN / Politico / The Hill / The 19th / Salon)

6/ The Senate failed for the sixth time to advance a short-term funding bill, extending the government shutdown into its second week. The Republican “clean” stopgap bill, which would fund operations through Nov. 21, fell short 54–45, with three Democrats in support, while the Democratic alternative to extend funding until Oct. 31 and renew Affordable Care Act subsidies failed 47–52. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said “nothing’s changed,” while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed Republicans for choosing “to kick 15 million people off health insurance.” In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson has kept members out of town during the shutdown despite pressure from both parties to vote on pay for military personnel before Oct. 15, when service members could miss paychecks. Johnson, however, has ruled out a vote for now, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene broke with her party, saying health care is the “number one issue” in her district and asking, “Why aren’t we coming back in session?” (Politico / The Hill / NBC News / CBS News / Axios / Politico / New York Times)

⏭️ Notably Next: Your government has been shut down for 8 days. The 2026 midterms are in 391 days.

Last year today: Day 1358: "Callousness."