Wednesday, March 4 | By Cate Martel |
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It's Wednesday. A SpaceX rocket created an amazing "jellyfish" in the sky after its launch this morning. 📸 The photos almost look extraterrestrial. And wow, 🎥 this video clip! | Hegseth teases next phase of Iran war NATO shoots down Iranian missile over Turkey Dems rally around Talarico Tim Walz testifies on Minnesota fraud Ethics panel launches probe into Gonzales
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What's coming next in the Iran military operation?: |
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine say more warplanes are arriving in the Middle East for the next phase of the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran: a major bombing campaign. The Defense secretary announced this morning: "More and larger waves are coming. We are just getting started. We are accelerating, not decelerating. Iran's capabilities are evaporating by the hour, while American strength grows fiercer, smarter and utterly dominant." Hegseth also criticized the media for highlighting the six U.S. deaths: The Trump Cabinet secretary accused the media of trying to "make the president look bad" by calling attention to the six U.S. service members who have been killed in the Iran operation. 💻 Watch Hegseth and Caine's update Just before Hegseth's announcement: NATO air defenses shot down an Iranian ballistic missile that was headed toward Turkey's airspace. For your radar: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is holding the first White House press briefing since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran. She is expected to field lots of questions about the military operation. 💻 Watch Leavitt's 1 p.m. briefing 💬 Follow today's live blog |
The Senate will vote on a war powers resolution to stop further military action against Iran. However, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) is the only Republican senator to support it so far. What Republicans think: "Republican senators are instead rallying around the argument that Trump has all the authority he needs under the Constitution to bombard Iran, asserting that many other U.S. presidents have conducted bombing campaigns without permission from Capitol Hill." Read the reporting from The Hill's Alexander Bolton: 'Trump likely to get free hand on Iran from badly divided Congress' |
➤ A CALL THAT MAY HAVE SET THE IRAN WAR IN MOTION: |
Axios's Marc Caputo and Barak Ravid report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called President Trump last Monday, telling him Iran's supreme leader would meet with his top advisers the next Saturday. (I.e.: If they struck that location, they could take them all out.) That call may have set Trump's plan to strike Iran in motion. Read more: 'The Trump-Netanyahu call that changed the Middle East' |
This is going to be a wild few months in Texas: |
The high-stakes Republican Senate primary in Texas is going to a runoff. Longtime Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) was slightly ahead of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on Tuesday, but neither surpassed the 50 percent threshold. That means they will face each other for a May 26 runoff to determine who will run against Democrat James Talarico in the fall. This will extend an incredibly expensive and ugly primary match-up. Candidates and groups backing them already poured a whopping $88 million on ad spending alone in the GOP race, with most of that in support of Cornyn. Will Trump finally endorse?: President Trump declined to choose a favorite in the primary. He's had an at-times rocky relationship with Cornyn, but many national Republicans think the incumbent senator has the best chance at keeping the seat in GOP hands in November. On the Democratic side: Texas state Rep. James Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) for a spot on the November ballot. Democrats are quickly rallying around Talarico, eagerly hoping to turn the Texas seat blue. Crockett says she called Talarico this morning to concede. She pledged to support his campaign, and former Vice President Kamala Harris also endorsed Talarico this morning. |
The New York Times: Talarico's Win in Texas Shows That Nice Guys Can Finish First The Wall Street Journal: How Talarico Won Over Latino Voters to Win the Texas Democratic Senate Primary Politico: 'A perfect storm is lining up for Texas Democrats' |
➤ OTHER NOTABLE ELECTION RESULTS: |
Who is taking over for Paxton as AG?: The race between outgoing Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Texas state Sen. Mayes Middleton (R) to succeed Paxton will head to a runoff. The Democratic primary has still not been called. Read more Who will succeed Roy? Possibly a former MLB star: Retired baseball player Mark Teixeira won the GOP primary to represent Texas's 21st District. As journalist Chris Cillizza pointed out, the Congressional Baseball Game could get even more fun if Teixeira wins this seat. Read more Crenshaw crushed: Incumbent Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) lost his GOP primary to Texas state Rep. Steve Toth (R) in the state's 2nd District. Roth won by about 15 points. Read more Wow, this is a tight race: A North Carolina Republican (who led the redistricting efforts) is losing his primary by two votes (!). Gonzales is headed to a runoff: Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and gun rights YouTuber Brandon Herrera are headed toward a runoff. Read more ^ Check out Herrera's feisty response to Gonzales last night. 👀 |
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The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into the Texas Republican, who has been under growing scrutiny over allegations that he had an affair with a staffer in his office who later died after setting herself on fire. |
House hearings are the place to be today: |
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee today. 💻 Watch Noem's hearing Plus, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) are testifying in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the state's fraud scandal. 💻 Watch Walz and Ellison's hearing The highlights so far: Noem defended living in Coast Guard housing: The Homeland Security secretary sought to clarify reports about her living situation, which indicated she was living rent-free in the commandant's house at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. Noem explained she is living in the Coast Guard House, not the commandant's house. A Republican called on Ellison to resign: Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) cut off Ellison, telling him he should resign as the attorney general of Minnesota. |
➤ RELATED REPORTING ON NOEM:
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Noem has a policy of personally reviewing expenditures of anything more than $100,000. Well, a new report from Senate Democrats found that more than 1,000 contracts, grants and awards at the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been held up because of it. Read more |
— Two of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer's top aides are resigning amid an internal probe into allegations of misconduct. — Iran's Prince Reza Pahlavi will speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) later this month. |
The Wall Street Journal: Gemini Said They Could Only Be Together if He Killed Himself. Soon, He Was Dead. The Atlantic: Pete Buttigieg in the Wilderness The Wall Street Journal: After Powell, Can the Fed Stay Independent?: Current chair wields deep bipartisan support and personal independence, but Trump has a closer relationship to his successor and three years to tighten his grip |
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The House and Senate are in. President Trump is at the White House. (All times EST) |
1 p.m. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream 1:30 p.m. Trump participates in a phone interview. 1:30 p.m. First and last House votes. 📆 Today's agenda 3 p.m. Trump meets with executives from Amazon, Google, Meta and OpenAI. 💻 Livestream 4 p.m. The Senate votes. 📆 Today's agenda |
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🍰 Celebrate: Today is National Pound Cake Day! 🦠 The flu has been awful this year: The flu has been much worse than COVID-19 this year. The Washington Post's Fenit Nirappil explains this pattern and what this means for future winters. 🌸 Peak bloom: WUSA9 meteorologists predict peak bloom for Washington's cherry blossoms will happen on April 2. And Capital Weather Gang predicts peak bloom between April 3 and 7. 🌈 The laptop Elle Woods would use in 2026: Apple announced a new line of laptops that comes in a palette of colors. It will also be the lowest-cost laptop Apple has ever made — the starting price is $599. Related read: Pros and cons of the new MacBook Neo |
📺 Miss the previous issue of this newsletter? Catch up with a 1-minute video. |
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