Daily News — February 5, 2026
Bannon wants troops at the polls. 50,000 federal workers lose job protections. The job market is bleeding. And nuclear arms control just died.
While others stenograph, grift, or chase the next distraction
this is the news that matters and how it’s connected.
Bannon Wants Paratroopers at Polling Sites
“You’ve got to call up the 82nd and 101st Airborne [Divisions] on the Insurrection Act,” Steve Bannon said Wednesday. “You’ve got to get around every poll.”1
Not poll watchers. Paratroopers. The same units that jumped into Normandy — surrounding the places where Americans vote. That’s not election security. That’s military occupation of democracy.
Federal law explicitly prohibits this.2 18 U.S.C. § 592 bars the president from deploying troops “at any place where a general or special election is held.” Bannon knows that. So does Trump, who told the New York Times last month he “should have” used the National Guard to seize election boxes in 2020.3 The FBI already seized 2020 ballots from a Georgia elections facility last week.4 They’re not floating ideas. They’re testing how far they can push. Ask them: Is this what “defending the Constitution” looks like?
DHS’s response? ICE isn’t “planning operations targeting polling locations” — but “if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested.”5 Translation: any pretext will do. The denial is the threat.
Before Minneapolis — before ICE shot two Americans — this sounded like bluster. Now? Senator Mark Warner: “Pre-Minneapolis occupation, that didn’t ring as true as it potentially rings true right now.”6 Renee Good and Alex Pretti are dead because ICE agents shot them in their own city. Armed federal agents at polling sites isn’t hypothetical. In November 2026, it’s the plan.
50,000 Federal Workers Stripped of Protections
The new “Schedule Policy/Career” rule reclassifies 50,000 senior federal workers into at-will employees.7 Fire them for any reason. Fire them for no reason. That’s not reform. That’s a purge with paperwork.
The rule’s language is the confession: workers can be fired for “obstructing the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives.”8 Disagreeing with the president is now officially “anti-democratic.” Professional judgment is insubordination. Expertise is disloyalty. They call DEI “anti-merit.” Then they replace merit with loyalty.
This is the spoils system — the patronage machine that got President Garfield assassinated in 1881 by a disappointed office-seeker. Congress killed it then. Trump is resurrecting it now. 140 years of merit-based civil service, dismantled because scientists might contradict him and inspectors might report violations.
The whistleblower gutting is worse. Under the new rule, agencies investigate their own whistleblower complaints.9 The fox guards the henhouse. Trump already fired the head of the independent Office of Special Counsel — the agency that used to do this job.
Who gets silenced? Nurses advocating for patient safety. Inspectors reporting violations. Cybersecurity experts warning about threats. Meteorologists giving honest hurricane forecasts.10 The people who keep you alive — converted into political servants of one man.
Meanwhile...
Job Market Collapse: 108,435 layoff announcements in January — the highest since 2009.11 Only 5,306 new hires, the lowest January since Challenger started tracking in 2009.12 Job openings fell to 6.54 million, the lowest since the pandemic.13 More unemployed Americans than job openings for the first time in years. That’s not a warning sign. That’s a recession wearing a “Golden Age” costume.
RSM’s chief economist put it plainly: “That’s hell if you’re talking to a politician or the public.”14 The White House’s response? Blame Biden. Point to GDP. Workers getting pink-slipped at Great Recession levels would beg to differ.
New START Expires: The last nuclear treaty between the US and Russia expired Thursday.15 First time in five decades without binding limits on strategic arsenals. The two countries control 85% of the world’s nuclear warheads — and now there’s nothing on paper stopping either from building more.
Trump let it die. Putin offered a one-year extension in October; Trump said it “sounded like a good idea” and did nothing.16 So much for “America First.” More like “America whenever I get around to it.” A last-minute “handshake deal” — negotiated by Jared Kushner and a real estate developer, without State Department arms control experts — is supposed to paper over the collapse.17 It’s unenforceable. Trump is already undermining it on Truth Social.18 Fifty years of nuclear arms control, ended by negligence.
“The risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades,” said UN Secretary-General Guterres.19 That’s the “Golden Age.”
The Call
Every story in today’s news serves the same project. We track them using the fascism syndrome—ten indicators that a democracy is sliding into fascism—so you don’t lose the thread in the daily chaos:
Normalization of political violence: Paratroopers at polling sites isn’t election security. It’s voter intimidation by military force.
Capture of the state: 50,000 career professionals converted into political servants. Disagree with the leader and you’re fired.
Erosion of due process: Whistleblowers now at the mercy of the agencies they’re reporting. The independent oversight office gutted.
Aggression as virtue: Nuclear arms control abandoned because negotiation is weakness. “Handshake deals” without experts.
Threaten voters. Purge dissenters. Gut accountability. Abandon restraint. That’s not dysfunction. That’s the system working as designed. That’s fascism.
But we’re not here just to tell you the house is on fire.
We built this publication to equip you with the tools to fight back—the frameworks, the messaging, the strategies that actually work. See the links below. But we can only keep doing this with your help. If this matters to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You keep the fight alive.
Fighting Fascism: How We Push Back and Win — The strategic playbook for reclaiming power
The Trump Regime Messaging Guide — How to talk to people who’ve been captured by the machine
The Freedom Illusion — How we got here, and the counter-ideology that gets us out
Article Sources:
Jacob Wendler, “Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites“, Politico, February 4, 2026.
Documenting Bannon’s explicit call for ICE to “surround the polls” and for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions to polling sites. Also notes federal law explicitly prohibits deploying troops at polling places and that Trump previously considered directing the military to seize voting machines after 2020.
Jacob Wendler, “Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites“, Politico, February 4, 2026.
Documents that 18 U.S.C. § 592 prohibits the president from deploying military troops “at any place where a general or special election is held.” Also notes multiple states criminalize carrying firearms at or near polling places, and that Trump told the New York Times he “should have” used the National Guard to seize election boxes in 2020.
Jacob Wendler, “Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites“, Politico, February 4, 2026.
Reports Trump’s statement to the New York Times that he “should have” used the National Guard to seize election boxes, and that after 2020 he considered an executive order directing the military to seize voting machines but never followed through.
Sophie Brams, “Bannon: ‘We’re going to have ICE surround the polls’“, The Hill, February 4, 2026.
Reports the FBI raid last week at Fulton County’s elections hub, including the seizure of 2020 voting records. Documents Trump’s claim of “horrible corruption” in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Atlanta without evidence, and Senator Schumer’s characterization of the election takeover push as “nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0.”
Khaleda Rahman, “ICE Responds After Steve Bannon Suggested Using It in Elections“, Newsweek, February 5, 2026.
DHS’s official statement to Newsweek claiming ICE isn’t “planning operations targeting polling locations” while leaving a significant loophole: “if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.” Documents that federal law bars voter intimidation and multiple laws restrict deploying troops or armed federal law enforcement at polling places.
Khaleda Rahman, “ICE Responds After Steve Bannon Suggested Using It in Elections“, Newsweek, February 5, 2026.
Senator Mark Warner’s assessment that ICE presence at polls is now a credible threat: “Pre-Minneapolis occupation, that didn’t ring as true as it potentially rings true right now.” Notes that two Americans were killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis last month, establishing the context for why armed federal agents at polling sites is no longer hypothetical.
Courtney Rozen, “Trump administration to end job protections for up to 50,000 federal workers“, Reuters, February 5, 2026.
Comprehensive coverage of the final rule creating “Schedule Policy/Career” classification, the biggest change to civil service rules in more than a century. Documents OPM Director Scott Kupor’s framing (”You can’t run an organization if people are refusing to actually carry out the lawful objectives and orders”) and the gutting of independent whistleblower oversight.
Tami Luhby, “Trump administration plans to reclassify 50,000 federal workers, making them easier to fire“, CNN, February 5, 2026.
The rule’s own language revealing its true purpose: workers can be fired for “obstruct[ing] the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives.” Documents the historical context — Congress replaced the spoils system with merit-based hiring in the 1880s after President Garfield’s assassination — and notes 30+ unions and advocacy groups are suing.
Courtney Rozen, “Trump administration to end job protections for up to 50,000 federal workers“, Reuters, February 5, 2026.
Details the whistleblower gutting: agencies will now set up their own protections for whistleblowers who accuse them of wrongdoing, replacing the independent Office of Special Counsel. OPM’s claim that agency officials will be “unbiased” when investigating complaints against themselves.
Emily Peck, “Trump administration makes it easier to fire thousands of federal employees“, Axios, February 5, 2026.
Lists the professionals who will be silenced: economists reporting bad jobs data, meteorologists giving hurricane insights, medical researchers explaining vaccine science. Also notes research from state governments shows at-will policies raise the risk of political firings, discourage whistleblowing, increase turnover, and raise costs.
Jeff Cox, “Layoffs in January were the highest to start a year since 2009, Challenger says“, CNBC, February 5, 2026.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas data showing 108,435 layoff announcements in January — up 118% from January 2025 and 205% from December 2025. The highest January layoff total since 2009, the depths of the Great Recession. UPS alone announced 30,000+ cuts.
Jeff Cox, “Layoffs in January were the highest to start a year since 2009, Challenger says“, CNBC, February 5, 2026.
Only 5,306 new hires announced in January — the lowest since 2009 when Challenger began tracking. Documents the chilling effect on the labor market despite White House claims of economic strength.
Sam Sutton, “Job openings plummet in warning sign for Trump’s economy“, Politico, February 5, 2026.
JOLTS data showing job openings fell to 6.54 million in December — down from 8.16 million a year prior and the lowest since September 2020. The jobs-to-unemployed ratio fell to 0.87-to-1, meaning more Americans are unemployed than there are job openings.
Sam Sutton, “Job openings plummet in warning sign for Trump’s economy“, Politico, February 5, 2026.
RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas on the disconnect between corporate productivity and worker pain: “On the margin, firms are able to do more with less. That’s fine when you’re talking to an economist or capital markets professional; that’s hell if you’re talking to a politician or the public.”
Staff/agencies, “‘Grave moment’: end of US-Russia nuclear pact comes at worst possible time, UN chief says“, The Guardian, February 5, 2026.
Comprehensive coverage of New START’s formal expiration — the first time in more than 50 years the US and Russia have no binding limits on their strategic nuclear arsenals. Documents that the two countries control 80-85% of the world’s nuclear warheads and the treaty had capped each side at 1,550 deployed strategic warheads.
Staff/agencies, “‘Grave moment’: end of US-Russia nuclear pact comes at worst possible time, UN chief says“, The Guardian, February 5, 2026.
Documents that Trump let the treaty lapse despite Putin’s October proposal to extend it for one year. Trump said the proposal “sounded like a good idea” and then did nothing. Some observers attribute the expiration to the administration “simply not having the bandwidth” as career diplomats were sidelined.
Barak Ravid, Dave Lawler, Marc Caputo, and Colin Demarest, “Scoop: U.S. and Russia agree to observe New START nuclear pact after expiration“, Axios, February 5, 2026.
The last-minute “handshake deal” negotiated by Kushner and Witkoff in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of Ukraine talks — without State Department arms control officials. NOT a formal extension; just an agreement to “operate in good faith” for at least six months. Nothing official until Trump and Putin endorse it.
Barak Ravid, Dave Lawler, Marc Caputo, and Colin Demarest, “Scoop: U.S. and Russia agree to observe New START nuclear pact after expiration“, Axios, February 5, 2026.
Trump’s Truth Social post casting doubt on the handshake deal: “Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal... being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty.”
Staff/agencies, “‘Grave moment’: end of US-Russia nuclear pact comes at worst possible time, UN chief says“, The Guardian, February 5, 2026.
UN Secretary-General Guterres’s warning: “This dissolution of decades of achievement could not come at a worse time — the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades.” Characterizes the treaty’s expiration as a “grave moment for international peace and security.”
Paratroopers with smoke bombs on their backs, maybe? What a jerk.
Bannon is all bluster and bullshit Everybody should consider this guy a fascist lightweight who roams the planet trying to install dictatorships and instill fear Just as WE the People consider TACO Cheeto a bully and bullshiter WE need to take control of the narrative
Consider joining the indivisible.org to create a unified Solidarity voice of WE the People to support candidates who will be militant against the far right fascist agenda as well as get useful trainings as WE move toward the midterms It's free