U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says her agency will “double down” in Portland after state and local leaders rebuffed a series of demands she made during a visit to the city this past week.

David French/NYT: Earlier this month, a federal judge appointed by President Trump in 2019, did the worst thing you can do to Trump in a court of law: She took him seriously. She read his words, found them disconnected from reality and acted accordingly.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn claims Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was planning for for government shutdown in a ‘war room’ for a long time.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is co-sponsoring a bill by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) to name a street in the nation’s capital after Charlie Kirk.

After the Student Government Association at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga voiced opposition to a Turning Point USA chapter on campus, Sen. Marsha Blackburn “tweeted”: “Do the right thing and approve the Turning Point chapter immediately.”

A former youth pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Jackson (TN) has been sentenced to 24 years in prison on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Tennessee National Guard troops are on duty in Memphis.

Crime has been going down in Memphis, yet Gov. Lee is bringing in Tennessee National Guard [at President Trump’s request]. https://t.co/CTJYVaJ0eS

Cartoon by Clay Bennett, Chattanooga News Free Press

Ben Sessoms/CHATTANOOGA TIMES: Democrats can find broad success if they show themselves willing to fight this billionaire oligarchy that has aided and abetted this descent into fascism and authoritarianism under Trump and the MAGA movement.

As Erika Kirk steps into a more public role following the death of her husband, Charlie, conservatives are watching closely to see whether she can expand the reach of Turning Point USA, the organization he co-founded for young conservatives.

A gathering of about 6500 conservative Christian women in Allen on Saturday honored the late activist Charlie Kirk.... https://t.co/hOpKvUXmci

Amy Poehler’s U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to answer any questions and got some backup from Tina Fey’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in “Saturday Night Live” cold open.

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says.

ICYMI — Trump lied that Chicago had “4000” murders, when it’s projected to have 380 this year (way down from last year) If it’s so bad there why does he have to keep lying about it?

More than three dozen federal judges have told The New York Times that the Supreme Court’s flurry of brief, opaque emergency orders in cases related to the Trump administration have left them confused about how to proceed in those matters....

Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, the Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles for his seat in Congress next year, announced an eye-popping fundraising haul this week.

For second year, Hamilton County public school students again academically outperformed those using vouchers for private schools. [Under new statewide program, comparisons won’t be possible because vouchered students are not required to take the test.]

Cartoon by Michael de Adder

Dozens of employees [thousand by some reports] were fired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late on Friday, as the Trump Administration made good on its promise to begin mass firings in response to a prolonged government shutdown.