Thursday, July 23rd

President Donald Trump attended Wednesday’s dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base for four U.S. service members killed in Iranian attacks in Jordan and Iraq: Tyler James Feehan, Isabella Gonzales, Angel S. Rampersad and Michael Emmanuel Swinton. U.S. Central Command announced a 12th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, aimed at threats to commercial shipping. Trump threatened to bomb Iranian bridges or power plants for attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz; Tehran warned no infrastructure would be safe unless its security was ensured.

The House adopted a GOP budget blueprint, 216-214, to prepare a reconciliation package with up to $95 billion for the Iran war, farm aid and election measures tied to President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act. The resolution instructs committees to write the legislation and is designed to avoid a Senate filibuster, but Senate Republicans have not embraced the House plan. Earlier, the House passed a $1.15 trillion defense authorization bill, 216-212, including expanded U.S.-Israel defense technology cooperation, a proposed Department of Defense renaming and 5% to 7% service-member pay raises. Republicans are pursuing the funding as polls show declining support for the Iran war, including among Trump-aligned voters.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a video posted Tuesday that his administration lacks legal authority to execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, retreating from a campaign pledge to have the NYPD arrest him if he visited the city. Mamdani urged the federal government to enforce the warrant and said Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City. The statement came ahead of Netanyahu’s expected September trip to Manhattan for diplomatic meetings. Israeli UN ambassador Danny Danon rejected the call as a political stunt.