House Democrats working in Washington this week have been scolding their Republican counterparts for remaining in their home districts during the shutdown instead of doing the people’s business in the nation’s capital. Now, even some Republicans are beginning to question Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy — and to side with Democrats — saying they, too, should be back in D.C.

“During a private conference call with House Republicans on Thursday, at least three GOP lawmakers — Reps. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Jay Obernolte of California and Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota — raised concerns about the House remaining out of session next week, according to a source on the call,” MSNBC reported on Thursday.

“I think we’re gonna get to a point where it’s damaging to continue to keep the House out of session,” Obernolte told his fellow Republicans. “I think we’ve gotten to that point.”

READ MORE: ‘Unfolding Rapidly’: Trump Wants to ‘Stoke Violence’ to Invoke Insurrection Act Says Expert

Obernolte “said keeping lawmakers home would make it look like House Republicans are ‘prioritizing politics over government,’ according to the source.”

On Sunday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told “Meet the Press” that he had not spoken to GOP leadership for at least a week, Politico reported.

“Republicans, including Donald Trump, have gone radio silent,” Jeffries said.

On Wednesday, seven House and Senate Democrats from Georgia sent a letter to Speaker Johnson, urging him to bring Republicans back to work, WRDW reported.

“We are shocked to learn that you have decided the U.S. House of Representatives will not even come to work this week,” the letter states, according to the Atlanta media outlet. “House Republicans have now not come to work for 18 days.”

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) wrote on Wednesday, “House Republicans are assaulting healthcare and making deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the ACA. Are House Republicans also shutting down the government and avoiding coming to DC because they don’t want to vote on releasing the Epstein Files? That’s a legitimate question.”

READ MORE: ‘Twice the Size of a Glass of Water’: Trump Invents Wild Claim on Babies’ Vaccines

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern told reporters Republicans need to “show up.”

“You know,” the Massachusetts Democrat said, “Republicans love to advocate for more work requirements for poor people, people on SNAP. People on Medicaid. Well, I got an idea. Let’s have a work requirement for Republicans to show up to Congress and do your g– job.”

“I mean, millions of people are about to lose their healthcare,” McGovern continued. “This is a serious crisis we’re in, and we can avoid it. We can avoid people losing their health care, we can keep the government open. They need to show up.”

McGovern: Republicans love to advocate for more work requirements for poor people… Let’s have a work requirement for Republicans to show up to congress and do your god damn job. pic.twitter.com/XC5sje9qft

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 8, 2025

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President Donald Trump is continuing to make incorrect claims about vaccines, autism, and children.

In Thursday’s televised Cabinet meeting, the President wrongly expressed the rate of autism in boys, nearly doubling it. The rate is about one in 20 boys, but President Trump claimed it is one in 12. He also claimed the rate for girls was far higher than actual. The overall rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one in 31 children.

The President also wrongly expressed the actual size of the vaccines babies get, as he suggested a disproven vaccines-autism link.

“So, obviously, there’s something, there’s something that’s artificially, I think, induced, something, whether it’s the vaccines in terms of these massive vaccines that are twice the size of a jar like that, of a glass of water like that,” he claimed, “I mean, into a baby’s body, and I’ve suggested get them in doses, get them in, you know, maybe 20%, 30%, but smaller, not such a big —”

He also said that, under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., there were “certain recommendations” that the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine (MMR) be split apart and taken separately, as three vaccine shots.

Trump on Autism: Obviously, something that is artificially induced, whether it’s the vaccines in terms of these massive vaccines twice the size of a jar like that, a glass of water like that, into a baby’s body. pic.twitter.com/ciHLZwcxFs

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 9, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Unfolding Rapidly’: Trump Wants to ‘Stoke Violence’ to Invoke Insurrection Act Says Expert

Image via Reuters

Robert Reich, a former Secretary of Labor and a professor of public policy, is sounding the alarm — warning that President Donald Trump plans to invoke the Insurrection Act, and detailing the steps he may take to make it happen.

Reich, the author of twenty books, said on Thursday:  “Trump wants to invoke the Insurrection Act, to punish anyone who opposes him.”

In his video, he played a clip of the President saying recently, “If you take a look at what’s been going on in Portland, it’s been going on for a long time and that’s insurrection. I mean, that’s pure insurrection.”

Military, legal, and political experts this week warned after Trump vowed to invoke the Insurrection Act if he deems it necessary — a move some see as the culmination of an authoritarian trajectory he has been telegraphing since taking office. No president has used the law in more than three decades, and then only in limited, localized crises.

READ MORE: ‘I Know People. They Don’t Believe That’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Scorches Johnson

Reich went on to say, “I know all of this is frightening, and I don’t want to unduly alarm you, but you need to be aware of this imminent danger. It’s unfolding very, very rapidly.”

Explaining what he described as Trump’s four-point plan, Reich said step one “is to deploy ICE into so-called blue cities, run by Democrats. These masked and armed ICE agents are wreaking havoc on American cities and violating due process. They’re arresting people outside immigration courtrooms. They’re raiding homes in the middle of the night, and detaining children and adults, including American citizens. They admit to using racial profiling.”

Step two, he said, is “exaggerate the scale and severity of the protests.”

Step three: “Deploy National Guard troops.”

“Trump is deploying hundreds of National Guard troops from red states, like Texas, into blue states like Oregon, and Illinois, against the wishes of Democratic governors,” Reich said.  “This is continuing to enrage an already outraged public — which is the whole point.”

“Trump wants to stoke actual violence, which would make it easier for him to unleash the final step in his plan, which is step four, invoke the Insurrection Act.”

READ MORE: ‘I’m Begging You — My Kids Could Die’: GOP C-SPAN Caller Slams Johnson Over Shutdown

“The Insurrection Act empowers a president to federalize the National Guard and use the U.S. military to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or armed rebellion against the government,” Reich explained. “Everything done by Trump has been a preamble to invoking this act, and being able to unleash troops against his perceived political enemies who oppose his regime in advance of the 2026 midterms. It would be the ultimate step in Trump’s authoritarian power grab.”

He said that “Trump and his enablers want violent confrontations in order to justify their moves. So, please, remain peaceful if you protest, or if you encounter ICE agents, or National Guard troops where you live. Do not give Trump what he wants.”

On Wednesday on Substack, Professor Reich wrote: “The direction we’re going is either martial law or civil war.”

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, one of the most outspoken members of the Democratic Party, took to the Senate floor to explain what he said is President Trump “enacting a well thought out plan so he and his allies can rule forever.”

“We aren’t on the verge of an authoritarian takeover,” the Connecticut Democrat declared. “We are in the middle of it.”

Everything Trump is doing now is a preamble for his regime’s real goal: to invoke the Insurrection Act.

I don’t want to unduly alarm you, but you need to be aware of this imminent danger. Let me explain what’s going on. pic.twitter.com/rDGGZAOrK7

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) October 9, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Full-Blown Authoritarianism’: Governor Fires Back After Trump Says He Belongs ‘in Jail’

Image via Reuters