DEATH TOLL RISES: Another U.S. service member has been killed in the Middle East, capping off a deadly weekend that claimed the lives of at least three members as the war with Iran escalates.
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said a member was killed in northern Iraq on Saturday in a “controlled detonation” of an unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. Another service member was injured in the incident and is receiving treatment for a “minor” injury, Centcom said.
The Sunday announcement came just a day after Centcom announced two service members were killed in an Iranian attack on military bases in Jordan on Friday. The U.S. responded to the Jordan attacks with strikes of its own on Iran, seeking to “punish” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched the missiles and drones.
Centcom said it successfully struck Iranian “military coastal surveillance air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites.” Strikes were also launched Sunday evening, the ninth consecutive night of attacks against Iran.
The death in Iraq brings the total U.S. death toll to 17 since the war with Iran began on Feb. 28.
The attack in Jordan also left one service member missing. Centcom said military personnel found “unidentified remains at the location” and an examination to verify the remains is ongoing.
The U.S. has stepped up its attacks on Iran in recent days with strikes on its energy infrastructure, port facilities and bridges, The Hill’s Filip Timotija reports.
▪ The Hill: President Trump calls for Congress to add Iran to Russia sanctions bill.
▪ The New York Times: Why Jordan is becoming a new focus in the war.
CRAMMING IT IN: House lawmakers face a jam-packed week with several key measures expected to come up for a vote before they return home for a monthlong August recess.
Republican leadership is planning to bring a budget resolution to queue up a third reconciliation bill. The House Rules Committee is meeting today to consider the resolution and possibly send it to the House floor, but it faces a hurdle from Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who sits on the committee.
Roy, the policy chair of the House Freedom Caucus, has said he has concerns about the budget resolution, including a “failure” to offset its proposed spending, the lack of other conservative priorities and how it addresses the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act.
Even if the bill gets out of committee, it could face more difficulties on the House floor.
The GOP is also seeking to pass a stopgap funding measure to keep federal agencies funded at current levels through Dec. 4 to avoid the government potentially shutting down at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
The party is hoping to avoid a funding fight in the leadup to the midterms. But whether the bill will have support from fiscal hawks or Democrats is unclear, The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi reports.
▪ The Hill: GOP fears over shutdown collide with SAVE America Act battle.
▪ The Hill: Trump nominees pose test for outgoing Republicans.
FALSE POSITIVE: Taylor Farms said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed the company that its test connecting one of its iceberg lettuce products to the ongoing cyclospora outbreak was a false positive.
“Today, we were informed that FDA made a mistake, and this was a false positive,” the company said in a statement. “To be clear, at this moment, FDA has not identified a single positive product test result for Cyclospora.”
The development is sure to further confuse a public on guard about the spread of the parasite around the country.
A voluntary recall of Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce expanded to more than half of the states over the weekend in an “abundance of caution” in the U.S. as officials tie it to an ongoing parasite outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had linked a shredded iceberg lettuce from a single supplier in Mexico to the multistate outbreak that has sickened at least 1,600 people nationwide.
Taylor Farms, which is based in California, said it stopped purchasing lettuce from the supplier as it works to remove the products from the market. It advised consumers who bought the recalled products to discard it and said purchasers can receive a full refund at the location of purchase.
Cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported in 34 states with the highest number of cases being reported in Michigan. No deaths have been reported, but the illness can cause severe diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms for weeks or longer if left untreated.
▪ CNN: Trump funding cuts created ‘perfect storm’ slowing the government’s response.
▪ Business Insider: Cyclospora outbreak lawsuits have begun.
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