Good evening. President Trump told reporters Friday that he does not want a ceasefire with Iran because the war is proceeding well. "You know, you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side," Trump said as he was leaving the White House for his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. He repeated his claim that victory has already been achieved, even as U.S.-Israeli attacks and Iranian drone and missile strikes continue. "I think we've won," Trump said, adding of Iran, "All they're doing is clogging up the strait, but from a military standpoint, they're finished." In a social media post Friday evening, Trump said: "We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran."
Schumer Slams 'Preposterous' $200 Billion Iran War Funding Request
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made it clear Friday that he does not support the Trump administration's massive upcoming request for supplemental funding to help cover the cost of the war in Iraq.
"This week, the administration was floating a funding request of $200 billion to finance this open-ended war," Schumer said on the floor of the Senate. "No way. That will never happen. It's a preposterous and dangerous risk. We should never accept giving Donald Trump a blank check to wage war in Iran in perpetuity. This is a war without a plan, without an endgame, without the support of the American people."
Schumer argued that the enormous sum could be used more productively for any number of other things, including reducing the cost of healthcare, housing and daycare.
"It's an indefensible number," Schumer said, "one of the most wasteful and unthought-out budget requests I have ever heard in my time in the Senate."
Republicans mull options: Some Republicans have discussed the possibility of using a reconciliation bill to pass supplemental funding for the Pentagon, reducing if not eliminating the need to win Democratic support, but as Politico reports, the size of the administration's request may make that option untenable.
"It's such a contortion to make things fit in reconciliation that there's probably a preference for regular order," Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker told Politico.
Still, some Republicans say a reconciliation bill would provide another opportunity to slash billions in federal spending to help pay for the extra spending for the war. "It would be very difficult to pass a very large supplemental without it being paid for," said Rep. Andy Harris, who leads the House Freedom Caucus. "There are hundreds of billions of dollars we can still save in fraud, waste and abuse in reconciliation."
If reconciliation doesn't work out, Republicans will need to find a way to win some Democratic support in the Senate, given the 60-vote requirement to pass a bill. One idea is to include Democratic priorities in the supplemental bill, with money for Ukraine and disaster aid. At the moment, though, Democrats don't seem interested in providing more money for what many see as a reckless military adventure.
Time for hearings? With some lawmakers calling for hearings into the cost and conduct of the Iraq war, many Republicans are saying they don't want to force Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to testify.
"You don't want to show that kind of division to your enemy when you're in the midst of a war," said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, per The New York Times. "I don't have a problem with the administration avoiding showing our enemy that they don't have 100% support of the Congress."
Democrats, some of whom have questioned the legality of the war, say public hearings are necessary. "They want to circumvent the Constitution," Sen. Cory Booker said earlier this week. "They want to go around public oversight. They want to avoid the glare, the questions of the American people."
Not all Republicans are opposed to hearings. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate, said he would like to see them, "the sooner the better."
"Of course it's necessary," Fitzpatrick added. "We should have oversight."
Quote of the Day
"I can assure you that we're not going to vote to give $200 billion or $2 billion or $200 until we have hearings on the money. Now that's gonna happen."
– Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana in an interview with C-Span's "Ceasefire" on the Trump administration's expected $200 billion funding request for the Iran war.
As we noted above, Republicans have resisted the idea of holding public hearings for top administration officials to provide their rationale for the war and detail the costs involved and exit strategy.
"It is the latest example of how the Republicans controlling Congress, who have ceded power to Mr. Trump on matters large and small, are refraining from using their oversight authority as a coequal branch of government and have instead taken on the role of cheerleaders for his policies at a critical time," writes Megan Mineiro of The New York Times.
But Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, reportedly said this week that she will likely want a public hearing on the administration's supplemental funding request, noting that the sum involved is "considerably higher than I would have guessed."
Before providing his assurance that there would be public hearings about the war funding, Kennedy said he wouldn't support public hearings on the war itself right now and expects the conflict to be over before such hearings can be organized.
DHS Funding Bill Blocked Again in the Senate as Shutdown Reaches 35 Days
The Senate on Friday once again failed to advance a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security and end the partial shutdown of the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies that began five weeks ago.
The Senate procedural motion on the funding bill failed, 47-37, falling well short of the 60 votes needed as 16 senators missed the vote, which was held open for more than two hours.
Pressure mounting as TSA agents go without pay: As airports experience some of the busiest travel days of the year, callout rates for TSA workers this week have hovered around 10% as screeners continue working without pay. Some airports are seeing sharply higher absentee rates. "Some of the airports with the highest TSA callout rates Thursday were Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (33.1%); Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (31.8%); Houston's William P. Hobby Airport (31.2%); and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (28.7%)," CNN reports.
But the hours-long security lines and delays at key travel hubs have yet to break the political stalemate over DHS funding as Democrats continue to insist on reforms to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics. Republicans have pushed to fund the department as a whole, while Democrats have offered to fund TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and other agencies within DHS excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would put forth a measure Saturday to fund only the TSA, but that is expected to fail, too.
"Tomorrow, America will see the matter crystal clear: Which senators want to open up TSA, pay TSA workers and end the chaos at our airports, and which senators are going to block TSA funding yet again," Schumer said.
Senate plans weekend work: While the shutdown standoff continues, the Senate is set to work over the weekend to continue debate over the SAVE America Act, the voter reform bill that President Trump has made his top legislative priority. The bill is stalled in the Senate and appears doomed to fail amid bipartisan opposition.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Friday also set up a vote as soon as Sunday on the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin to head DHS.
Fiscal News Roundup
- US Furiously Seeks to Avert Potential Monthslong Closure of Strait of Hormuz – CNN
- Schumer Slams $200 Billion Funding Request – Wall Street Journal
- Deferring to Trump, G.O.P. Lawmakers Resist a Public Accounting on Iran – New York Times
- Republicans Balk at Going It Alone on Iran War Funding – Politico
- U.S. Dispatches Marines and Warships to Middle East – New York Times
- 'Hormuz Has to Reopen': Why the Oil Industry Can't Help Trump Tame Rising Gasoline Prices – Politico
- Trump Calls NATO Allies 'Cowards' for Failing to Help Open Strait of Hormuz – CNN
- Another DHS Funding Vote Coming to House Floor – Politico
- Bill to Fund Homeland Security Fails Again as Concern Grows About Airport Lines – Associated Press
- Travelers Face Friday Rush and Unpredictable Airport Wait Times as TSA Officers Go Unpaid – CNN
- Trump Friend Asked ICE to Detain the Mother of His Child – New York Times
Views and Analysis
- The U.S. Economy Is Insulated From High Oil Prices. Americans Aren't – Ben Casselman, New York Times
- Your Tax Refund Is Likely Bigger This Year. But Trump's War With Iran Could Take a Bite Out of It – Tami Luhby, CNN
- How Trump's War Is Slipping Out of Control – Stephen Collinson, CNN
- America Started a War. The Economic Pain Will Be Borne by Countries That Never Asked for It – Allison Morrow and Hanna Ziady, CNN
- The Airports Without Long Security Lines – Washington Post Editorial Board
- Court Demands Student Loan Borrowers Pay More – David Dayen, American Prospect
- Medicare-for-All Makes a Comeback – Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post
- The Danger of Letting a Mystic Lead Public Health – Marc Short, Washington Post
- Measles Is Roaring Back. We Are Not Ready – Jennifer Reich, New York Times
- The Postal Service's Last-Mile Strategy Is a Dead End – Thomas Black, Bloomberg
- Rivian and the Danger of Building a Business on Government Largesse – Washington Post Editorial Board