Policies don't affect day trading. They just affect which direction the bias will be for a moment in time. If it creates a downtrend, then shorts are easier to take and let run and longs need a tighter leash.--and vice versa. If truly day trading and I mean RTH, then you are protected from overnight moves that policies affect.
So, the increase in volatility and the largest down days in 5 years got nothing to do with policies? Don't be dense.
Of course it does, but it doesn't affect day trading. You get in, you get out and control risk just like always.
You may not be seeing it yourself. Day trading index futures with a VIX around 40 is very different from day trading index futures with a sub 20 VIX. It's a different skill set.
As an aside, the surprisingly good jobs number today, accounted for only -4000 federal workers. It seems they haven't counted yet about 60,000 because their status is unclear (leave, lawsuits, etc.)