Government shutdown hits the skies, Trump hints at invoking Insurrection Act
The government shutdown is now affecting airports. Staffing shortages from Newark to Denver are grounding flights and straining controllers.
Plus, President Donald Trump said he’d invoke the Insurrection Act “if necessary,” a move that could allow him to deploy troops despite court orders.
And the CDC’s new guidance makes COVID-19 shots a personal choice, shifting from blanket mandates to “individual-based” decisions.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025.
Government shutdown hits air travel as Senate stalemate continues
The Senate failed again on Monday to pass a bill to reopen the government, and now air travel is being impacted.
The FAA said dozens of air traffic facilities are either short-staffed or expecting shortages in the coming days, from Burbank, California, to Phoenix to Denver.
Burbank saw the worst of it on Monday with the entire control tower shut down around 4:15 p.m.
Flights still moved, but under procedures typically used at smaller, untowered airports. Delays exceeded two and a half hours.
Other facilities around Newark, Jacksonville, Chicago, D.C., and Indianapolis also reported staffing issues. Denver and Newark issued ground delays until controllers could catch up.
“In a job that’s already stressful, this shutdown has put way more stress on our controllers. At a time when they’re already working on equipment from the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, we ask them to do their jobs on equipment that has not been state-of-the-art,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Duffy said there’s been a small increase in sick calls since the shutdown began, noting that FAA employees are already stretched thin.
The Senate is expected to try to reopen the government for a sixth time later this week.
Two years into Gaza war, peace talks back on table
Tuesday marked two years since Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people, taking hundreds hostage and igniting a war that still shows no end in sight.
In Egypt, Israeli and Hamas negotiators are holding indirect talks. Officials said they’re going over President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.
The proposal includes a ceasefire, the release of remaining Israeli hostages and humanitarian aid into war-ravaged Gaza.
The talks are expected to last several days.
More than 67,000 people have been killed since the fighting began, with famine gripping parts of Gaza and nearly 90% of Palestinians forced from their homes.
Meanwhile, pressure is building at the United Nations with France, the U.K. and Canada joining calls for a two-state solution.
At the same time, Israel has attacked several of its enemies. They’ve hit Hezbollah in Lebanon, taken out top commanders and waged a 12-day air campaign against Iran earlier this year.
On this two-year anniversary, the fighting persists, and the pursuit of peace continues
Trump threatens Insurrection Act amid Chicago lawsuit
Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act. He said he’ll do it “if necessary,” specifically, if courts or local officials try to block his deployment of National Guard troops across the nation.
The comment comes after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused the administration Monday of staging a “military-style invasion” of Chicago.
The state and the city filed a lawsuit Monday to block the federalization of the Illinois National Guard.
“There is no invasion here. There is no insurrection here. And local and state law enforcement are on the job and managing what they need to,” Pritzker said. “Without my permission and against my vigorous objections, the president has federalized 300 Illinois National Guard military troops and hundreds of National Guard members from Texas.”
The governor continued, saying, “Let me be clear: Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities.”
The Department of Homeland Security responded, calling Pritzker’s claims a “smorgasbord of lies” and saying he should “get out of his mansion and see Chicago.”
“If J.B. Pritzker actually walked the streets of his own city, he would see domestic terrorists and violent rioters attacking police officers and the scourge of violent crime as a direct result of his own policies.”
Later, in the Oval Office, Trump described when he would actually invoke the Insurrection Act.
“We have an Insurrection Act for a reason. If I had to enact it, I’d do that. If people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I would do that, I mean, I want to make sure that people aren’t killed. We have to make sure that our cities are safe.”
The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to deploy the military for law enforcement purposes under limited circumstances.
It was last used during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Probe continues after blaze destroys South Carolina judge’s home
A South Carolina judge, who recently ruled against the Trump Justice Department, is back in the headlines after her home burned down over the weekend.
The blaze erupted Saturday on Edisto Island, destroying the waterfront home. Authorities said three individuals were hospitalized after jumping from the elevated first floor.
Rescuers reached them by kayak because of the marshy terrain.
Their identities have not been publicly released.
Investigators said they found no evidence that the fire was intentionally started and no signs of an explosion, despite widespread online speculation about a potential attack.
The home belongs to Judge Diane Goodstein, who last month temporarily blocked South Carolina from handing over its voter database to the Trump administration’s Department of Justice. The state supreme court later reversed that decision.
The high court is now requesting privacy, saying: “We respectfully suggest that common decency be followed by all in respecting the privacy of the Goodstein family during this difficult time.”
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster echoed that message, writing that there’s no evidence the fire was intentionally set, and he urged people not to spread unverified information.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
All three injured individuals are receiving treatment at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
CDC updates vaccine schedule, changes COVID-19 shot policy
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is making its most significant shift in vaccine policy since the pandemic, officially endorsing a “case-by-case” approach to COVID-19 shots.
The agency approved the changes recommended by its vaccine advisory committee, which is now led by members appointed by Department of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Under the new guidelines, COVID-19 vaccination is no longer universally recommended.
Instead, doctors and patients are encouraged to make personalized choices based on risks and benefits.
The CDC also updated guidance for children, stating that toddlers should now receive a separate chickenpox vaccine instead of the combined MMRV vaccine, which can slightly increase the risk of fever-related seizures.
The agency said the goal is to restore trust and “informed consent” in vaccine policy, but some medical groups have warned that the changes could cause confusion and increase people’s hesitancy to get vaccinated.
America’s top five favorite Halloween candies
It’s time to start preparing your candy bucket, as Halloween is quickly creeping around the corner. Plus, new data from DoorDash revealed the top five candies Americans like the most.
The report claimed Skittles, Snickers, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, M&Ms and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups — which claimed the top spot for the second year in a row — are among the five favorite spooky season treats in the U.S. this year.
“We’re seeing a real revival of comfort classics this Halloween,” DoorDash consumer trends expert Cristen Milliner said. “Candy has become a kind of time capsule, with millennial parents passing down the staples they grew up with, while Gen Z and Gen Alpha are reinterpreting those same treats as retro comfort.”
DoorDash said some new additions also made the top ten list compared to last year — including nostalgic favorites like Nerds, Sour Patch Kids and Airheads.
But whatever your craving may be, someone is sure to be handing it out to all the ghouls and goblins trick-or-treating this Halloween.
More from Straight Arrow News:
Why so many doctors and nurses are walking away from health care jobs
As a nurse with two decades in the medical field, Jill Nicole was well-versed in hospitals. But landing in a hospital bed of her own after suffering severe autoimmune issues as a result of her job’s stress was not in the career plans she’d drawn up.
Nicole faced heightened levels of stress during the pandemic, leaving her dejected and disillusioned with the health care industry. And ultimately, she did what a growing number of professionals like her have chosen to do in recent years: She left nursing.
A recent study by Harris Poll found that 55% of U.S. health care workers plan to look for job openings, interview for a new role, or switch to a new role in the next year.
Nicole traded in her scrubs for athleisure as she shifted from nursing to instructing Pilates. And, she told Straight Arrow News, she will never look back.
“I still use my nursing background and the pay is about the same,” said Nicole, who lives in Michigan. “I love not being tied to a clock or schedule, but I do miss putting on the scrubs.”
She felt a shift then, in 2020 and the years after, she said, when she was unable to access the personal protective equipment she required for her job. Inadequate staffing, the lack of resources and the abuse of health care workers at bedsides and behind the scenes all added up to Nicole feeling like she wasn’t valued, she said. Read the full story now >
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
