“President Donald Trump’s latest bid to deploy the military on U.S. soil over local opposition is triggering a new conflict with blue state governors that is playing out in the courts as Trump envisages a country where armed soldiers patrol U.S. streets,” the AP reports.

“Trump has already pushed traditional boundaries by using the National Guard domestically, envisioning a muscular role for the U.S. military in targeting illegal immigration and crime in American cities.”

“His attempt to deploy California National Guard members to Oregon and Texas Guardsmen to Illinois is a sprawling use of presidential power. Next steps in lawsuits filed by Democrat-led states will likely address significant questions of constitutional law, federalism and the separation of powers — setting up a potential collision between the courts and Trump’s aggressive use of the National Guard.”

Politico: Courts confront militarized cities as Trump tests the waters with National Guard deployments.

“With the government shut down for a sixth day, President Trump on Monday briefly dangled the possibility of a negotiation with Democrats, only to pull back several hours later — insisting that Democrats must end the standoff first before he would be willing to make a deal on health care,” the New York Times reports.

Said Trump: “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open.”

“President Donald Trump on Monday said he would consider using the Insurrection Act to deploy the military if federal courts prevented him from deploying the National Guard to protect federal buildings and conduct law enforcement operations,” Politico reports.

“The comments came a day after a federal judge blocked the president from sending National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, which Trump claims has been taken over by left-wing ‘domestic terrorists.’”

“Michael Ellis, the deputy director of the C.I.A., has abruptly demoted a career lawyer who had been serving as the agency’s acting general counsel since January and installed himself in that role,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Ellis, who played a role in a series of controversies during President Trump’s first term, is also retaining his position as the No. 2 official at the CIA. It was not clear what was behind Mr. Ellis’s decision to take personal control of making legal judgments for the agency while continuing to help lead it, but the move raised alarms among some current and former intelligence officials.”

President Trump claimed “we have a negotiation going on with Democrats that could lead to very good things… with regard to health care,” CNN reports.

He added: “I’d like to see a deal made for great healthcare.”

But Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly said there won’t be any talks until the government is reopened.

A federal judge declined to block the deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois, a mobilization that the state’s governor, JB Pritzker, labeled an “unconstitutional invasion” by the federal government, the New York Times reports.

“The judge’s ruling, which allows the deployment to move ahead for now, came as a military official said 200 troops from the Texas Guard were headed to Illinois, and lawyers from the Trump administration said they were expected to be deployed by Tuesday or Wednesday.”