NOEM: ‘I’VE BEEN DEALING WITH … A BUNCH OF PANSIES’: The dueling realities of the Trump administration and state and local officials about crime in blue states were on vivid display Tuesday, as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited “war-ravaged” Portland, while Attorney General Pam Bondi rebuked Democratic senators in congressional testimony over the murder rate in Chicago.
Noem arrived in Portland to oversee illegal immigration enforcement operations and was seen in social media posts peering down from the rooftop of an ICE facility at a small group of protesters, including a man in a chicken suit. “Our goal is that people would peacefully protest, but that we would still be able to enforce the law.”
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Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) said she only learned of Noem’s visit through “unofficial channels” and reached out to request a meeting with her. “We talked about safety. We talked about safely allowing folks to peacefully protest. No one in Oregon is interested in seeing military policing on our streets when people are protesting peacefully,” Kotek said on CNN. “I also brought up the issue of the use of tear gas. We have some very strict laws in Oregon about how we interact with protesters and people who are lawfully demonstrating.”
“So, it was a straightforward conversation,” Kotek said. “I’m glad she is here on the ground to assess the situation, because she needs to see what the reality is here.”
Later, Noem went on Fox to rail against Portland’s leadership, including the city’s mayor, Keith Wilson. “What I told him is that if he did not follow through on some of these security measures for our officers, we were going to cover him up with more federal resources and that we were going to send four times the amount of federal officers here so that the people of Portland could have some safety,” Noem told Fox News host Jesse Watters.
“What is shocking to me about these leftist politicians is just how they ignore the people who elected them, jeopardize their safety, and continue to disrespect our law enforcement officers,” she said. “So one of the things I’ve been dealing with all day here in Portland is a bunch of pansies that are elected into political office who won’t make a decision to keep their citizens safe.”
NOEM WARNS PORTLAND MAYOR SHE’LL FLOOD CITY WITH FEDS IF SECURITY DEMANDS GO UNMET
CHICAGO DUE IN COURT: Following this weekend’s temporary restraining order from a federal judge blocking troops from being sent to Portland, Oregon, the city of Chicago and the State of Illinois have a court date tomorrow in Chicago. U.S. District Judge April Perry will hear arguments in a lawsuit aimed at halting the dispatch of Texas National Guard troops to Chicago against the wishes of state and local officials.
The vanguard of the Texas troops have already arrived, and pictures posted on social media showed the troops mustering outside the city, including a photo of some well-fed soldiers dubbed by a social media wag “Meal Team 6.”
In her combative appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to answer questions about the justification for sending hundreds of troops to Illinois and Oregon. “Why do you want to keep this secret? So the American people don’t know of the rationale behind the deployment of National Guard troops in my state,” asked Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), the committee’s ranking member.
“I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently, the National Guard is on the way to Chicago. If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will,” Bondi said, prompting Durbin to complain that Bondi was refusing to answer “a legitimate question.”
“That’s the kind of testimony you expect from this administration,” Durbin said. “A simple question, as to whether or not they had a legal rationale for deploying National Guard troops, becomes grounds for personal attack.”
TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD STAGE OUTSIDE CHICAGO AS PART OF TRUMP DEPLOYMENT
TRUMP: ‘IF THE GOVERNOR CAN’T DO THE JOB, WE’LL DO THE JOB’: President Donald Trump continues to make no-so-veiled threats to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow the use of active-duty military in a law enforcement role, if courts rule against his mobilization of National Guard troops.
“It’s been invoked before, as you know,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “If you look at Chicago, Chicago’s a great city where there’s a lot of crime, and if the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do the job.”
“We have cities where there’s tremendous crime, and Chicago’s one of them. And if the governor can’t straighten it out, we’ll straighten it out,” Trump said. Later, Trump added that “Democrats are like insurrectionists, OK? They’re so bad for our country.”
On his Truth Social account, Trump posted, without comment, a photo of a 1963 memo from then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy justifying federalizing 17,000 troops from the Alabama National Guard to allow black students to attend nine previously all-white schools in Birmingham, Alabama. Kennedy cited “unlawful obstructions of the authority of the United States” as the basis for “calling into federal service the militia of any state,” which includes placing National Guard troops on active duty service.
That is precisely the legal argument the Trump administration is making in court, and will likely use in an appeal to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
BONDI GRILLED ON FBI SURVEILLING GOP, EPSTEIN FILES, AND NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENTS
Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.
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HAPPENING TODAY: SHUTDOWN DAY 8: The shutdown of the federal government over demands by Democrats for preservation of healthcare subsidies for millions of Americans is in its second week, with no end in sight.
There are some nascent behind-the-scenes discussions of some kind of compromise on healthcare premiums, which are expected to double for many people who buy their coverage on the Obamacare exchanges, with a handful of Republicans suggesting that something should be done.
But publicly, Republicans and President Trump are hanging tough, with Trump renewing his threat to permanently eliminate federal jobs, and suggesting furloughed workers may not get back pay.
“You know Russell Vought. He’s a serious person, very serious person. He’s sitting there and he’s getting ready to cut things,” Trump said. “We have a lot of things that we’re going to eliminate and permanently eliminate.”
“I’ll be able to tell you that in four or five days if this keeps going on. If this keeps going on, it’ll be substantial, and a lot of those jobs will never come back,” he said. “We’ll be announcing it pretty soon.”
NO BACK PAY? Despite a law that Trump signed during his first term that guarantees federal workers will get full back pay after a government shutdown ends, Trump’s Office of Management and Budget circulated a draft memo this week suggesting that such payments would not be automatic for workers who stayed home because they were deemed nonessential.
Asked about it yesterday, Trump at first indicated that it was, in fact, under consideration. “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” he said. “I can tell you this, the Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about. But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”
But later in the Oval Office session, he seemed to backtrack when reminded of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act. “I follow the law and what the law says is correct, and I follow the law.”
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OFFER SUPPORT FOR FURLOUGHED FEDERAL WORKERS RECEIVING BACK PAY
AL QAEDA ‘ATTACK PLANNER’ ELIMINATED: The U.S. Central Command says a “senior al Qaeda-affiliated attack planner” was killed in a U.S. airstrike last week in Syria.
“Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Wahhab al-Ahmad was a member of Ansar al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group,” CENTCOM said in a news release. No other details were released about the strike, which was carried out on Oct. 2.
“U.S. forces in the Middle East remain postured to disrupt and defeat efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. “We will continue to defend our homeland, warfighters, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond.”
A BINDER FULL OF BARBS: Attorney General Pam Bondi’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday was one for the books. Bondi’s strategy became clear from her opening comments: admit nothing, deflect criticism, and counterattack. Despite the constitutional duty of the committee to exercise oversight over the Justice Department, Bondi clearly felt no obligation to answer even the simplest questions posed by the Democrats.
In front of her was a binder with folders, including barbed retorts, akin to mean tweets, she could give to individual senators instead of actually responding to their questions.
“And I’m not going to be lectured to you about integrity by someone who lied about being in the military just to be elected as senator,” Bondi said to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
“If you worked for me, you would have been fired because you were censured by Congress for lying,” she said to Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
“Senator, I don’t think a lot of people like that you were out protesting with Antifa,” she said to Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI).
The frustration of the Democrats was palpable. “I think it’s valuable that the American people get a sense of what you refuse to answer today,” said Schiff at the end of his attempt to cross-examine Bond.
“You were asked, whether you consulted with career ethics lawyers, as you promised you would do during your nomination hearing, when you approved the President receiving a $400 million gift from the Qataris, you refused to answer that question.”
“You were asked, who or what role you may have played or who played the role in asking that Trump’s name be flagged in any of the Epstein documents gathered by the FBI. You refused to answer that question.”
“You were asked, whether Homan kept the $50,000 bribe money. You refused to answer that question.”
“You were asked, did career prosecutors find insufficient evidence to charge James Comey? You refused to answer that question.”
“You were asked, how were military strikes on these boats in the Caribbean legal? And you refuse to even answer that question.”
“You were asked by my California colleague whether you believe government officials, like immigration officials, have to abide by court orders. You wouldn’t even answer that question.”
Bondi’s response: “What about the fires in California, do you care about that, Sen. Schiff? Leadership. Are the riots in L.A. serious? I think you owe the President an apology for your entire career, frankly. Clearly, you’re a failed lawyer because you don’t understand when someone can and cannot answer a question.”
BONDI GRILLED ON FBI SURVEILLING GOP, EPSTEIN FILES, AND NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENTS
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Noem warns Portland mayor she’ll flood city with feds if security demands go unmet
Washington Examiner: DHS rejects Pritzker’s ‘harmful lies’ about ICE operations in Chicago
Washington Examiner: Trump immigration officials still struggling with Biden’s legacy
Washington Examiner: Texas National Guard stage outside Chicago as part of Trump deployment
Washington Examiner: Border Patrol arrests of illegal immigrants over past year hit 55-year low
Washington Examiner: Bondi grilled on FBI surveilling GOP, Epstein files, and National Guard deployments
Washington Examiner: Congressional leaders offer support for furloughed federal workers receiving back pay
Washington Examiner: Trump’s shutdown workforce threats could backfire
Washington Examiner: Airline industry showing signs of distress as government shutdown grinds on
Washington Examiner: Hostage families and survivors optimistic about Gaza ceasefire proposal on two-year anniversary of Oct. 7
Washington Examiner: Oct. 7 anniversary: Israel battles optics, isolation, and mounting death toll as world pushes Trump deal
Washington Examiner: Russia laments EU’s ‘dividing walls’ as officials move to restrict diplomats’ movement
Washington Examiner: Macron faces grim decision as calls for snap election and resignation abound
Washington Examiner: Airline industry showing signs of distress as government shutdown grinds on
Washington Examiner: Lawmakers introduce bipartisan Oct. 7 legislation amid Gaza ceasefire talks
Washington Examiner: Editorial: Hamas must accept Trump’s peace deal or face consequences
AP: Federal government shutdown grinds into a second week, but quiet talks emerging
Washington Post: Rare trilateral mission secretly extracts U.S. sailor’s mother from Gaza
AP: Trump calls Canadian PM Carney a ‘world class leader,’ but also ‘very nasty’
Reuters: Pentagon’s Hegseth OKs US Navy Next-Generation Fighter, Sources Say
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Analysis: Ukraine’s F-16 Force: Innovation, Impact, and Resolve in the Face of Aggression
The War Zone: Thales Anti-Drone Rockets Now Being Used in Ukraine
Defense News: Bangladesh Air Force Gets Nod to Spend Billions on Multirole Fighters
Task & Purpose: Hegseth Directs New Task Force to Come Up with ‘Barracks Investment Plan’
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Nominee to Lead Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific Shop Calls on Allies to Up Defense Spending
Breaking Defense: Defense to ‘Anchor’ Exploding Satellite Market over Next Decade: NovaSpace
Air & Space Forces Magazine: How the Space Force Is Getting a Head Start on Defense Acquisition Reform
Air & Space Forces Magazine: B-2 Crews Ace Weapons Test
New York Times : They Celebrated Vigilante Justice on the Battlefield. Then They Brought It Home.
New York Times: Did a Green Beret Unit Commit One of the Worst U.S. War Crimes in Decades?
THE CALENDAR:
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 8
9 a.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council Global Energy Center Energy and Defense Program 2025 Energy and Defense Summit,” with Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE); Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA); Rep. Ed Case (D-HI); Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD); and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/2025-energy-defense-summit/
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies and the West Point Center for the Study of Civil-Military Operations, CSIS-West Point Conference: “The Future of Critical Minerals and National Security, with retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, former commander, U.S. Central Command https://www.csis.org/events/future-critical-minerals
11 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: “Judge Advocates General: On the Frontline of National Security and the Rule of Law,” with retired Adm. John Richardson, former chief of naval operations and member, CNAS board of directors; James Baker, professor and director at the Syracuse University Institute for Security and Law and former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; retired Rear Adm. James McPherson, former Army undersecretary and former judge advocate general of the Navy; and Carrie Cordero, CNAS senior fellow and general counsel https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-event-judge-advocates-general
5:30 p.m. 529 14th St. NW — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft book discussion: The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces,” with author Seth Harp https://quincyinst.org/events/the-fort-bragg-cartel-an-in-person-conversation-with-author-seth-harp/
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 9
2 p.m. — Government Executive Media Group virtual discussion: “Smarter Systems, Safer Missions: Enabling AI Through Unified Cybersecurity,” with Macy Dennis, CXO adviser at Netskope https://events.govexec.com/smarter-systems-safer-missions
3:30 p.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies Center on Military and Political Power discussion: “Countering the Axis of Aggressors,” with retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser; and retired Gen. Laura Richardson, former U.S. southern commander https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/10/09/countering-the-axis-of-aggressors
2:15 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Cato Institute forum: “Beyond Brussels: Rethinking the NATO Alliance,” with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT); and Justin Logan, Cato director of defense and foreign policy studies https://www.cato.org/events/beyond-brussels-rethinking-nato-alliance
3 p.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council launch of the final report of the Hypersonic Capabilities Task Force, with Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN); Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ); former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, co-chair, Atlantic Council Hypersonic Capabilities Task Force; former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, co-chair, Atlantic Council Hypersonic Capabilities Task Force; former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Jim McConville, member, Atlantic Council Hypersonic Capabilities Task Force; and Michael White, author, Atlantic Council Hypersonic Capabilities Task Force and former principal director of hypersonics at the Defense Department https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/the-hypersonic-imperative