Again, let us take a moment to be thankful for our federal court judges who follow the law and uphold the Constitution. Matthew Rosza reports:
President
Donald Trump suffered yet another court humiliation Tuesday — indeed,
the 25th in a row (and without exception) when it comes to his attempt
to force states to provide him with their voter rolls, and thereby guarantee Republicans win the 2026 midterm elections.
"President
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice suffered its 25th straight
district court loss Tuesday in its nationwide campaign to force states
to hand over unredacted voter registration data, after a federal judge
in Washington rejected the department’s legal theory and dismissed the
case with prejudice," reported Democracy Docket's Yunior Rivas on Tuesday.
"U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson, appointed by former President
Joe Biden, concluded that DOJ’s demand for Washington’s statewide voter
registration list 'violates federal law,' joining what she described as a
growing line of courts rejecting nearly identical lawsuits."
She
quoted Evanson as saying, “The Government’s reading of 52 U.S.C. §
20701 is not persuasive as a matter of statutory interpretation, nor is
it consistent with the purpose of the CRA, the Court joins a growing,
unanimous consensus of courts to find that the List is not subject to a
Title III demand."
ABOVE THE LAW selected this quote from Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as their quote of the day:
I
view dissent as more than just a disagreement with the outcome of a
case, I see them as an expression of faith in the future and a
demonstration of hope. However desolate the moment feels, we who write
for a future age have hope that the noble and collective work of bending
the long arc of the law toward justice will continue.
We are lucky to have her on the Court.
"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Wednesday, September 23, 2026. All demographics are abandoning Chump as the midterms loom,
[. . .]
Um… WTAF?!
Todd Blanche's DoJ makes a 'legal' case for 'decorum,' Don Jr. and Susan Collins are in trouble, and much more.
Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes in the video above Chump's latest crazy.
TrumpDaBigLoosah
was held earlier this month in Texas. It was an unneeded convention
which existed only to fulfill Chump's vanity. THE WEEK notes:
The
music was loud, the flags were everywhere, and the “sense of panic” was
inescapable, said Nikki McCann Ramirez in Rolling Stone. With Election
Day less than two months away, and polls showing Republicans in danger
of losing both the House and Senate, the GOP earlier this month held its
first-ever midterm convention in Dallas. The MAGA luminaries addressing
“Trumpapalooza” barely mentioned soaring gas prices or the quagmire in
Iran, the related catastrophes that have dragged Trump’s approval rating
down into the mid-30s. Instead, they gushed over Trump’s leadership;
warned of an America overrun by Islamists, “killer migrants,” and trans
athletes if “evil” Democrats win, and left it to Trump himself,
addressing both nights of the event, to rally the MAGA faithful. But
“the cult of Trump is waning,” said Jamelle Bouie in The New York Times.
Speaking to thousands of unfilled seats—many left empty by swing-state
candidates who skipped the event—Trump had attendees pledge allegiance
to him personally, “the greatest president in the history of the United
States,” and promise to “cheat like hell” in November. In what is surely
one of our Republic’s lowest moments, Trump promised a $5,000 “dividend
check” to every American, if Republicans win the midterms. “Far from
juicing turnout” for the GOP, Trumpapalooza may have just “reminded the
voting public” of why they need to elect Democrats.
Trump
did make some questionable choices, said David M. Drucker in Bloomberg.
He mocked voters’ affordability anxieties. He ridiculed Texas Attorney
General Ken Paxton, now trailing Democrat James Talarico in the race for
Texas’ open Senate seat, saying, “I don’t really like the way he
looks.” But Trump may have accomplished his main goal: to have his
die-hard supporters “pretend that I’m on the ballot.” Still,
Republicans’ bigger problem is the president’s “evaporating support
among GOP regulars who have never been Trump’s biggest fans.” Perhaps
the promise of a “$5,000 payoff” will motivate some, but the fact that
“Trump was compelled to resort to this sort of dubious measure is
revealing.”
“No one is falling” for Trump’s dividend
“gimmick,” said The Washington Post in an editorial. Congress would need
to approve the payout, and not even the GOP’s Trumpified House
delegation wants any part of a vote-buying scheme that would turbocharge
inflation and add another $1.2 trillion to the $40 trillion national
debt. Trump’s “$5,000-check promise may be the moment he finally
underestimated his audience,” said Jonathan Chait in The Atlantic. Does
he really think voters have forgotten the DOGE “refund” checks that were
supposedly in the mail? Or the “tariff rebate” checks he also promised?
Trump’s free-money “ruse,” like the rest of his shtick, has “worn
thin.”
The bloom is off
Chump's rose and most Americans are focused on other things -- stuff
like who to vote for in the midterms. That's 41 days away although
early voting has begun in some states. In Dallas earlier this morning,
Chump told people to vote like he was on the ballot. People are
agreeing with that which is why Democrats are doing so well in the
polling. Sarah Ewall-Wice (THE DAILY BEAST) reports:
A
new poll shows Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek with a
jaw-dropping lead in Iowa as Democrats across the country are seeing
signs of momentum with just over 40 days to go until Election Day.
The Marist poll
shows Turek with 50 percent of support, a whopping eight-point lead
over Republican Senate hopeful Ashley Hinson with 42 percent among
registered voters.
It was the largest polling lead
Turek has seen in a series of mixed-results polls since he became the
Democratic nominee for the midterms.
But
the poll shows Trump is dragging down Republicans as he has repeatedly
inserted himself at the center of the midterm fight for control of
Congress.
Senator
Susan Collins has been doing her best to distance herself from Chump --
and from Vice President JD Vance. When Miss Sassy showed up in Maine
to campaign for her, Collins made it clear that she'd be doing no events
with JD. But is that enough for the Republican Collins? Rachel Cohen (VOX) reports:
Nationally, abortion has faded as a campaign issue. Four years after it helped Democrats stave off a red wave,
candidates in battleground races are focusing their attention on
cost-of-living issues, immigration, and policing. As of mid-August,
abortion was mentioned in less than 5 percent of Democratic Senate ads, a key difference from the past two cycles, according to the Wesleyan Media Project.
Maine
is different. As of September 16, Democratic advertisers had spent
roughly 15 percent of their $40.8 million broadcast TV and streaming
dollars on ads focused on abortion rights, according to Nate Schwartz
from AdImpact. It’s one of the biggest topics there, he told me, after
ads about President Donald Trump and healthcare. Planned Parenthood’s
political arm is also making its biggest ad buy of 2026 against Susan Collins,
at $600,000, and WinSenate, a super PAC aligned with Senate Democratic
leadership, has spent 70 percent of its TV, streaming, and digital money
in Maine on abortion-focused ads.
The
target is Collins, the only Republican senator up for reelection in a
state Trump lost in 2024, and one of Democrats’ best chances to flip a
seat. Seeking her sixth term, Collins is running in a year when
Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by about 9 points. It’s
also the first time she will face voters since Roe v. Wade was
overturned — a decision Justice Brett Kavanaugh helped deliver after
Collins, who has long described herself as “pro-choice,” cast the pivotal vote to confirm him in 2018.
Susan Collins has other problems in her re-election as well.
Katie's referring to the PROPUBLICA report by
Texas Republicans have not lost a statewide race since the mid-1990s. Heading into the November 2026 midterms,
new polling, a bipartisan revolt over data centers and a self-inflicted
scandal inside the GOP are combining to put that three-decade streak
under more pressure than at any point in a generation.
Two years after Hispanic voters
helped deliver Donald Trump his best-ever showing in Texas, several
independently conducted polls now point the other way. A August 2026
University of Texas/Texas Politics Project survey found Hispanic Texans viewing Trump unfavorably by 51% to 42% -- a sharp reversal from the dead-even 48-48 split the same pollster measured in October 2024.
In Florida, Richard Luscombe (GUARDIAN) reports:
Another prominent Florida Republican has publicly distanced himself from Donald Trump, days after María Elvira Salazar called out the US president’s immigration-enforcement policy targeting law-abiding undocumented immigrants.
Byron
Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor in November’s US midterm
elections, launched an updated campaign website on Tuesday that was
stripped of almost every mention of Trump and removed a photograph of
the congressman and his wife, Erika, posing with the president, the
Miami Herald reported.
Until now, Donalds
has proudly touted his close ties with the president, running a
Republican primary campaign themed largely on Trump’s endorsement, and
displaying a large banner on his website advertising his support.
The move comes as Trump’s overall approval rating fell below 30%
for the first time, dragged down by dissatisfaction over his handling
of the US economy and the Iran war, and Republicans brace for heavy
losses in November, including the possible loss of the party’s
majorities in the US House of Representatives and Senate.
Also in Florida, Nick Hilden reports:
On
Tuesday, a lifelong Florida Republican declared that he will vote for
Democratic midterm candidates in protest against President Donald Trump,
and MAGA is not happy about it. While Republican Robbie Smither said
his reasoning involved practical considerations, many disappointed MAGA
supporters attempted to woo him back by appealing to culture war
conspiracy theories.
“When I vote
for a Democrat, [former Rep. David Jolly (D-FL)], for the first time in
my 41 years of life this November, it will not be because my values
have changed, but because my party has abandoned our values for the
sycophancy of a transactional leader who has none,” posted Smither.
Jolly is running a neck-and-neck race for Florida governor against Rep.
Byron Donalds (R-FL), a staunch Trump supporter. “I made a personal
commitment to vote for [former Rep. Mike Beltran (R-FL)],” Smither
continued, referring to the toss-up race for Florida’s 14th District,
“and I want to keep my word, but I’m a few more red hats, Trump mailers
and fill-ups away from taking a mulligan and voting for [Rep. Castro
(D-FL)]. Why? Because Mike, for whatever reason, has made [Trump] his
identity in this race instead of the principled conservative
independence that set him apart in Tallahassee.”
Republicans
are more concerned about Alaska and Texas. And their worries about Ohio
have escalated amid soaring diesel prices and backlash to tariffs —
challenges they’re also confronting in Texas, Iowa, Michigan and
Kansas.
Already two battleground candidates have called for ends to the Iran war, pointing to the high prices: Iowa GOP Senate nominee Ashley Hinson, whose team has grown increasingly wary of the tight race and Michigan GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers. Both Hinson and Rogers use top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio to guide their campaigns.
The
war on Iran, the war on immigrants and Chump's tariffs are the biggest
problems impacting the US economy in a negative manner. Jennifer Agiesta (CNN) reports movement in the popular opinion on the Iranian War:
Americans’ opposition to the war in Iran has hardened, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS,
with almost two-thirds saying the US is not winning the conflict and
more saying President Donald Trump isn’t doing enough to end it.
Americans have never held positive views
about the war, and nearly seven months after it began, broad majorities
say the conflict has hurt US interests, has not been worth the costs
and that the president lacks a clear plan to handle it.
[. . .]
Overall,
29% of US adults approve of Trump’s handling of foreign affairs, a new
low in CNN polling across both of his terms as president, while 71% say
they disapprove. More see his foreign policy decisions this term as
harming America’s standing in the world rather than helping it. Only 26%
say they approve of the president’s handling of the situation in Iran,
down from 33% a month after the war began.
Much
of the decline in approval of his handling of Iran comes among
Republicans. Views among Democrats and independents have been steadily
negative throughout the conflict. In March, though, 73% of Republicans
approved of the way Trump was handling it. Now, that figure stands at
60%. Among Republican and Republican-leaning adults, approval of Trump’s
handling of Iran dips into negative territory among those younger than
45 (53% disapprove) and those who say they are not members of the Make
America Great Again movement (54% disapprove).
Republicans
are also less positive now than they were earlier this year about the
impact of Trump’s foreign policies more broadly: About half of
Republicans now say that his decisions have helped the US’ standing in
the world, down 13 points since March.
This shift came as the Pentagon announced another US service member killed in the war. Patty Nieberg (TASK & PURPOSE) reports:
The
non-hostile death of an Army officer in support of ongoing operations
in the Iran war was quietly reported in the Pentagon’s casualty tracking
database Monday.
The female soldier was on a military
flight en route to Saudi Arabia when she suffered a medical incident, a
defense official told Task & Purpose.
On the Iran War, Con Coughlin (THE TELEGRAPH) feels Chump is making a fool of himself with his remarks about the war at the UN yesterday:
Yet,
such is Trump’s evident confusion on the Iran issue, that his remarks
were full of contradictions. At one point he boasted that, because of
his actions, Iran could no longer bully the rest of the Middle East with
its nuclear threat. If that is the case, then why did the American
president find it necessary to threaten to drive Iran “into hell” if it
did not comply with his demands to scrap its nuclear ambitions?
Rather
than striking fear into the delegation of Iranian officials who have
arrived in New York for the annual UN gathering, they are more likely to
regard Trump’s latest bluster as the actions of a man desperate to dig
himself out of a hole of his own making.
Iranian
President Masoud Pezeshkian is said to have arrived in New York with a
new peace plan which includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz within
seven days if Washington agrees to ease its military military pressure
and lifts its blockade.
With
Trump’s own efforts having failed demonstrably to bring the war to an
end, the American president could find himself in a position where the
Iranians make him an offer he simply cannot afford to refuse.
Chump embarrassed himself and the country yesterday at the United Nations.
Let's move over to Chump's war on The First Amendment and a Free Press. Daniel Dale (CNN) explains
that Chump's convinced that the media isn't covering his
'accomplishments' -- or rather his baseless claims of accomplishments
are not being parroted by the media:
Trump spoke about the White House ban during a Monday press conference
in New York City with Mayor Zohran Mamdani. When Trump was asked why he
announced the ban, he said, “I’m only doing it because I think the
press also has an obligation. And, you know, I won in a landslide, I won
the election in a landslide. I’ve done great things, I’ve done a lot of
great things. I’ve settled eight wars. We have the best economic
numbers for the country, in the history of our country. We have $21
trillion pouring in.”
He
criticized media coverage of himself and of the war with Iran, which he
described as overly negative given that “we’ve done so well.” Then,
after deriding CNN and MS NOW, he said, “I think that these outlets have
an obligation to be fair.”
Trump’s
claims about having won a “landslide” victory, having “the best
economic numbers for the country” and that “we’ve done so well” with
Iran are some combination of too subjective and too vague to debunk,
though it’s clear all three can be reasonably challenged. But his claims
that “I’ve settled eight wars” and “we have $21 trillion pouring in”
are incorrect, as CNN has repeatedly noted when he has made the same or
similar claims on numerous previous occasions.
Trump’s
list of eight wars supposedly settled includes two situations that were
never actually wars during his tenure: a diplomatic dispute between
Egypt and Ethiopia and a mysterious supposed situation between Serbia
and Kosovo. The list also includes a war, involving Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, that has not ended despite a peace
agreement brokered by the Trump administration.
In
addition, the list includes the war between Israel and Hamas even
though Israel continues to conduct frequent attacks in Gaza despite a
US-brokered ceasefire agreement. And it includes the brief 2025 conflict
between Israel and Iran, though Israel proceeded to join the US
in starting another war against Iran in 2026.
As for the “$21 trillion” Trump says is pouring into the US?
That figure is fiction. The White House has never been able to substantiate it.
So Chump has a hissy fit because the media is not applauding him for his lies.
NPR reports on the Department of Justice filing to uphold Chump's banning of CNN, MS NOW and POLITCO from the White House:
In its Tuesday's filing, the DOJ argued that Trump revoked access to White House grounds to the three media outlets because he "concluded that they have failed to maintain basic minimum standards of professionalism and decorum" and for "publishing sensitive or classified information."
"After all, access to the White House is a privilege -- not a right," the DOJ argued.
In letters to CNN and MS Now, the White House alleged that the news outlets had jeopardized national security or spread falsehoods by publishing details relating to the construction of the White House's East Wing bunker to depletion of U.S. ammunition stockpiles during the Iran war.
Decorum? From Chump, that's
hilarious. More to the point, the US government has no say in the
"decorum" of press outlets. The DoJ filing actually does more harm for
Chump. then it does good.
Maybe Chump got upset about Don Jr.'s corruption getting exposed last week? Henry Giardina (QUEERTY) notes:
Last
week, a bombshell report informed us that Don Jr.’s 3-day wedding
bonanaza in the Bahamas was paid for, in part, by a mysterious Russian
oligarch who also happens to be the man behind the 2024 Olympics misgendering scandal.
That was crazy enough. Today, fresh information has come to light, and Don Jr. is in even bigger trouble.
Umar
Kremlev, the close friend of Putin who footed the bill for parts of the
lavish celebration, was found guilty of extortion and battery scandals
as a younger man. More recently, Kremlev has been at the center of yet
another scandal, this time concerning the “mass abduction, illegal
deportation, and forced relocation” of Ukrainian children through the
group Healthy Fatherland.
The
group, which on the surface markets itself as a rehabilitation service
for troubled youth, is sanctioned in Ukraine, as is Kremlev himself. To
make matters even worse, the organization is run by the sister of
Kremlev’s wife. And somehow, it gets even worse than that…
This
summer, before Andrew Tate’s arrest, the IBA (of which Kremlev is
president) planned to hold a boxing event hosted by Tate, himself
accused of trafficking minors across country lines. Tate—whose ties to
Don Jr. and Barron Tr*mp have already been publicized—was arrested
before the event could take place.
Senator Bill Cassidy noted the whole thing had a book look while speaking with Margaret Brennen on CBS' FACE THE NATION Sunday:
MARGARET
BRENNAN: We're joined now by Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. He is the
chairman of the Health Committee. And he joins us from Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. Good morning to you, Doctor. A lot to get to. I want to
start first on something that grabbed our attention. President Trump
claimed Friday that his son has now repaid a Russian billionaire named
Umar Kremlev after it was reported that the Kremlin-linked billionaire
paid for parts of his son's wedding celebrations in the Bahamas. Don
Jr. originally called it a gift, but your Republican colleague from Utah
Senator Curtis called it corruption. Your colleague from North Carolina
Thom Tillis said it was beyond bad. Do you think it's corruption, and
does repaying the funds make a difference?
SENATOR
BILL CASSIDY (R-Louisiana): Well, repaying the funds does make a
difference. Any time someone gives a $250,000 gift and they have strong
ties to the Kremlin, that's – that's wrong. You – with that proximity
to power, being the president's son, you've got to give faith to the
American people that Washington is not a swamp. And even though in your
mind it might be a gift, the appearance of it is really bad., And so
I'm glad it's been repaid. Would be nice to have that kind of verified.
And, no, it shouldn't have been done in the first place.
MARGARET
BRENNAN: Well, it was the free press that brought it forward in the
first place. It was a publication called ProPublica, important reporting
there.
Senator John Curtis has called it corruption. And now he's calling for an investigation. Annie Linskey and Tim Hanrahan (WALL STREET JOURNAL) reports:
A
Republican senator called for an investigation of Donald Trump Jr.,
following the disclosure that the president’s oldest son received a lavish afterparty as a wedding gift from a Russian businessman connected to the Kremlin.
Sen.
John Curtis (R., Utah) sent a letter to the heads of the Judiciary
Committee requesting a probe into the “use of presidential family
relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or
access by domestic and foreign interests.” He urged the committee to
subpoena Donald Trump Jr. as well as Hunter Biden, the son of former
President Joe Biden and whose dealings in Ukraine have drawn GOP
scrutiny for years.
“A toaster is
a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected
oligarch is something else,” Curtis said. “Republicans nearly wore out
the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships.
We should not unplug it now.”
In
the letter to Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and top Democrat Dick
Durbin of Illinois, Curtis also cited Trump Jr.’s “active promotion of
family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued pursuit of
international real estate deals involving direct meetings with foreign
heads of state, and his reported investments in defense contracting.”
“Questions
have arisen about the relationships of President Trump's eldest son,
Donald Trump Jr., with foreign business figures and the acceptance of
significant gifts… These concerns are compounded by Donald Trump Jr.’s
active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued
pursuit of international real estate deals involving direct meetings
with foreign heads of state, and his reported investments in defense
contracting,” the letter reads.
“These
reports raise legitimate questions about foreign access to members of a
sitting president's family and whether such relationships can create
actual or perceived expectations of favorable treatment. They also may
create expectations of a returned favor that would not be in the best
interests of the American people or our allies, and could even create
national security vulnerabilities.”
More problems for Chump? Sudiksha Kochi (THE HILL) reports:
Simpson
told reporters Monday “there’s a lot of things that we need the
military funding for — in fact, we’re short on military funding right
now,” according to Politico.
Asked
whether he thinks Pentagon funds should be used for it, he said, “If it
was my choice, I wouldn’t put any of that money into the arch,”
Politico reported.
Simpson’s
remarks come after Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social the plans for the
massive triumphal arch bridging Washington and Virginia will incorporate
a “top grade military complex.”
Considering
that the military budget has skyrocketed under Chump, no, his arch
shouldn't be funded out of the military budget. Not a single dime.
Turning
to immigration, Monday Rachel Maddow notes that ICE had shot another
person, this time in Austin and that protests were taking place.
An
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and wounded a man from
Venezuela who was working as a DoorDash driver Sunday in Texas’ capital,
city officials confirmed, with protests erupting at the scene against
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
More
than a day later, the man – whose lawyer identified him as a Venezuelan
immigrant – said he had not been treated properly for the gunshot wound
or received pain medication.
Federal
authorities have not said what led up to the shooting in North Austin,
which is at least the third involving immigration agents in Texas since
the start of Trump’s second term, with criticism of heavy-handed tactics
on the rise and polls showing most Americans against the president’s
immigration policies.
The shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez Sunday in Texas
marks at least the ninth time this year an Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officer has been involved in firing a weapon during the
course of federal immigration-related operations.
Garces
Perez, 28, was shot in the back by an ICE officer in Austin after
running from a traffic stop. He is now in federal custody at the South
Texas Detention Center, where he was transferred from an ICE processing
center early Monday morning and is being interrogated by federal
investigators, his attorney said.
[. . .]
Haitian pastor pulled off ICE deportation flight amid case review
But
Garces Perez’s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, is among those — along
with leaders of the League of United Latin American Citizens — calling
on Congress to create an independent oversight committee to investigate
all instances of the use of force by federal agents.
A US judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of a Venezuelan man who was shot by immigration agents in Texas, his lawyer says.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, is being held in a detention centre with a bullet in his back, according to his lawyer. Judge Orlando Garcia, a Clinton appointee, scheduled a hearing for Garces Perez to appear in court in person next week.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
New details reveal DoD was unprepared and failed to support service members and their families in the aftermath of Iranian strike
“It is critical that Congress gets answers on the failures that led to the attacks, and on the subsequent mistreatment of survivors and families of those killed”
“As the administration continues to ask Congress for more resources for this war, we can no longer afford to wait for DoD to deign when they are going to answer these questions.”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, and Representative Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, led 19 members of Congress in a letter to Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Representative Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Chair of the House Committee on Armed Services, urging them to hold public hearings on the Iranian attack of a U.S. military base in Kuwait that killed six service members and injured more than 30 others.
“[A]llegations reported by whistleblowers to Senator Warren’s and Representative Ryan’s offices, have raised even more concerns about the lack of appropriate medical care for service members injured in the strike, the treatment of survivors and their families, and the DoD [Department of Defense] investigation of this attack,” wrote the lawmakers.
In April, Senator Warren and Representative Ryan led investigations into reports that Secretary Hegseth failed to take basic steps to protect troops during President Trump’s war in Iran, including during a strike that killed six service members and injured dozens in Kuwait. Following reports revealing that service members were warned of safety issues ahead of the strike, the lawmakers pressed for answers as to why the Trump administration reportedly failed to adequately prepare for attacks on troops in the Middle East.
The lawmakers then expanded the investigation in July following additional new reports that DoD failed to provide adequate medical care to service members injured in the strike. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the lawmakers asked for clarity on the reports and DoD’s investigation into the Port Shuaiba strike. DoD has not responded to the lawmakers’ questions and has stonewalled oversight by failing to provide Congress with the results of the Army’s investigations into the Port Shuaiba strike despite repeated requests.
These new reports indicate that:
- “There was absolutely no evacuation plan” in the case of an attack on Port Shuaiba.
- Injured survivors of the March 1st strike faced delays in receiving appropriate care in the immediate aftermath of the strike.
- Since then, multiple soldiers injured in the strike have waited months for appointments, with at least one still unable to secure an appointment months later.
- Families of the fallen were misled about meetings with DoD officials—they were told they had been invited to a ceremony instead of a briefing on the deaths of their loved ones.
- Some purple hearts were mailed to survivors and families of the fallen, instead of being presented in a ceremony in accordance with Secretary Hegseth’s policy memorandum.
- The service member originally appointed to conduct the investigation into the strike was a public affairs officer under the chain of command of one of the commanders present during the strike. Additionally, the more senior officer who later took over the investigation was reportedly still a lower rank than the commanders of the 103rd Sustainment Command and the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, who were both present during the strike.
The lawmakers urged the chairmen to hold public hearings on the Port Shuaiba attack to answer the questions already posed by Congress and address the additional allegations regarding the treatment of military families, including whether DoD followed appropriate protocols in briefing the families, informing them of the injuries of their loved ones, and awarding medals.
“It is unacceptable that President Trump has dragged the U.S. into a reckless war while failing to properly protect our service members from Iranian attacks and to give them the care they need,” wrote the lawmakers.
“These are serious allegations and our service members, their families, and the American people deserve answers,” concluded the lawmakers.
The full list of signers includes Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.); and Representatives Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), Derek Tran (D-Calif.), and Eugene Vindman (D-Va.).
Senator Warren has fought to hold the Trump administration accountable for waging an illegal war in Iran and endangering the lives of service members and Americans:
- On September 15, 2026, in response to an inquiry led by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, along with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released new data on the cost of President Trump’s war in Iran.
- On July 30, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, led 11 members of Congress in opening an investigation into reports that the DoD failed to provide adequate medical care to service members injured in a March drone strike on a U.S. military post at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait.
- On May 29, 2026, Senator Warren’s oversight efforts uncovered that the State Department did not task the U.S. Transportation Command to assist with the evacuation of non-government Americans, despite tens of thousands of Americans being trapped in the region and the Trump administration’s lack of evacuation plans at the start of the war.
- On April 28, 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Personnel Subcommittee, questioned Admiral Frank M. Bradley, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), on alarming reports of service members sustaining traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in President Trump’s illegal war with Iran.
- On April 27, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) launched a new investigation into reports that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth failed to take basic steps to protect troops during Operation Epic Fury, including during a strike that killed six service members and injured dozens in Kuwait.
- On April 22, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) pushed General Reed, Commander of U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), for clarity on whether the Trump administration was using all the tools at its disposal, including TRANSCOM, to evacuate Americans in the Middle East out of harm’s way following President Trump launching an illegal war against Iran.
- On April 20, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Van Hollen (D-Md.) led nine senators in opening a new investigation into Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s role in weakening civilian harm prevention programs and the catastrophic civilian impacts of President Trump’s war in Iran.
- On April 7, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) released a new video condemning President Trump’s threat to wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran and called for Majority Leader Thune to bring the Senate back into session immediately to vote to stop Trump’s war.
- On March 20, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent and other members of the Trump administration, raising concerns about the financial costs for American families from President Trump’s illegal and reckless war with Iran.
- On March 20, 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) sounded the alarm about the Trump administration’s sidelining of the military’s Judge Advocate General Corps, who are responsible for providing independent legal advice to commanders. Senator Warren pressed the commanders of United States Northern Command and United States Southern Command about the impact the sidelining of JAGs has on civilian harm as the war against Iran continues.
- On March 12, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) pressed General Randall Reed, Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), on the Trump administration’s failures in evacuating Americans from the Middle East at the start of President Trump’s illegal war in Iran.
- On March 11, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Van Hollen (D-Md.), Kaine (D-Va.), Schatz (D-Hawaii), Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and 41 colleagues pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a full investigation into the airstrikes on a school in Minab, Iran, and other civilian casualties in the Trump administration’s war on Iran.
- On March 12, 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the Director of the Congressional Budget Office on the financial implications of the Iran war and highlighted that the enormous financial cost could instead be used to lower the cost of health care.
- On March 5, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) led the entire Massachusetts delegation in pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to explain the Trump administration’s “complete failure” to evacuate U.S. citizens — including Massachusetts residents — from the Middle East following the administration’s starting a reckless war in Iran.
- On March 3, 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to call on Congress to end President Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran and demand accountability.
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