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12:05 PM ET, March 19, 2026

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Washington Post:
Pentagon seeks more than $200 billion in budget request for Iran war  —  Some White House officials do not think the Pentagon's request has a realistic shot of being approved in Congress, one senior administration official said.  —  The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve …
RELATED:
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
The cost of Trump's Iran war is quickly spiraling upward  —  PN is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  💰 Subscribe to PN 💰  —  Speaking to Sky News last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked if there was some point at which the Iran war …
Discussion: Bloomberg
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:   Congress must ‘adequately’ fund defense, Johnson says, amid talk of $200 billion war request
New York Times:   Pentagon Seeks $200 Billion to Fund Iran War
Politico:
Trump's next pressure point
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Someone Needs to Tell Trump the Truth About the War  —  The average price of a gallon of gasoline is now about $3.88, according to AAA.  In eight states, it's over $4/gallon.  Happy Thursday.  —  What Nobody's Telling Trump  —  by William Kristol  —  I doubt anyone on the inside …
Discussion: ABC News, Just Security and Fox News
RELATED:
Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
FBI investigates intelligence aide who resigned over war  —  The Scoop  —  The FBI has opened a leak investigation into a top former intelligence official who resigned Tuesday in protest over the war in Iran.  —  The investigation into former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent …
Nia-Malika Henderson / Bloomberg:
The White House Is Lost in the ‘Weave’  —  The Trump administration has a coherence problem.  This issue starts at the top with a fabulist president who is increasingly unfiltered and unfocused, offering up ping-ponging thoughts with little purpose or explanation.
Reuters:
Exclusive: US weighs military reinforcements as Iran war enters possible new phase
Dave Lawler / Axios:
Scoreboard on every street: Gas heads for $4 per gallon due to Iran war
Discussion: New York Times, Democrats and YouGov
Reuters:
Exclusive: Iran attack wipes out 17% of Qatar's LNG capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says  —  Iranian attacks have knocked out 17% of Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and Asia …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Brent crude nears $115 as energy prices surge after Iran attacks Gulf energy facilities  —  Global oil and natural gas prices soared Thursday after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar that can supply one-fifth of the worlds gas as well as two oil refineries in Kuwait.
Peter Beaumont / The Guardian:
Middle East war: why attacks on gasfields like South Pars are a major escalation
CNBC:
Oil briefly hits $119 and Europe gas prices surge after attacks on energy facilities in Qatar, Iran
CNBC:
Stocks fall again as oil prices rise, Dow loses 200 points: Live updates
NBC News:
Some DHS contractors told White House officials they were asked to pay Corey Lewandowski  —  Some companies complained to the Trump administration that Lewandowski has stood to personally profit from the DHS contracting process.  Lewandowski denies the allegations.
NBC News:
Trump's DHS pick Mullin advances by one vote after Sen. Fetterman votes yes  —  Republican Sen. Rand Paul opposed Mullin, but Democratic Sen. John Fetterman crossed the aisle to rescue the nominee, who was approved by a one-vote margin.  —  WASHINGTON — A key Senate committee voted 8-7 …
RELATED:
Calen Razor / Politico:
Capitol agenda: Markwayne Mullin's rockier-than-expected road
Discussion: Reuters and CBS News
Meg Kinnard / Associated Press:
Mullin's DHS nomination advances to full Senate despite opposition from Republican Rand Paul
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
March 18, 2026  —  I was intending to take tonight off, but there's big news—I mean, aside from all the other big news—that I want to make sure gets attention.  —  Back on February 23, Daniel Ruetenik, Pat Milton, and Cara Tabachnick of CBS News reported on a newly uncovered document …
Washington Post:
Drones over base where Rubio, Hegseth live raise security concerns  —  Lockdowns at U.S. bases and a global security alert underscore concerns that Iranian retaliation could extend to officials on U.S. soil  —  U.S. officials detected unidentified drones above the Washington Army base …
Regina Medina / MPR News:
Judge ends asylum claims for Liam Conejo Ramos and his family, orders family's removal  —  An immigration judge has ended the asylum claims of Liam Conejo Ramos and his family, according to their Minneapolis lawyer.  —  The 5-year-old boy from Columbia Heights received national attention …
Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Political operatives with Trump ties raked in millions of dollars in commissions from DHS ad campaign … The March 3 DHS memo noted there was only a “limited competition” for the awarded contracts because of the “urgent and compelling need” for the ad campaign.
Calen Razor / Politico:
Bernie Sanders to force disapproval votes over U.S. arms sales to Israel  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders is introducing joint resolutions of disapproval Thursday over several U.S. arms sales to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the Vermont independent's office tells POLITICO.
Discussion: NewsMax.com
ABC News:
‘I will follow the law,’ Bondi says after Democrats storm out of Epstein files briefing  —  Democrats say the AG refused to commit to following the committee's subpoena.  —  Rep. Robert Garcia speaks to the media following a closed-door briefing for members of the House Oversight …
RELATED:
Sam Sutton / Politico:
‘What is he doing?’:  New threats emerge for Trump's economy as war drags on … “Downside risks are rising, and this is an extremely fluid situation,” he said.  —  The data shows that the warning lights were flickering even before Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz, choking global supply chains.
Wall Street Journal:
A U.S. Citizen Now Runs Mexico's Top Drug Cartel—and Targeting Him Is Complicated  —  The California-born stepson of the late kingpin ‘El Mencho’ enjoys constitutional protections other capos could only dream of  —  TAPALPA, Mexico—An American citizen now appears to be in charge of Mexico's …
Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
Trump's face on a gold coin?  His hand-picked panel will decide.  —  The proposal has already been rejected by members of a separate federal coin committee — and panned by former member Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  —  Just now  —  A federal arts commission will weigh whether to approve …
Discussion: The Independent and New York Sun
Avery Lotz / Axios:
States challenge “broadcast behemoth” mega-merger  —  Eight states sued to block the massive $6.2 billion merger of Nexstar and Tegna that could create the largest local broadcast company in the country by far. … - FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has already signaled he supports the transaction.
New York Times:
Trump's Hypocrisy on Religious Freedom  —  The Trump administration holds itself up as a defender of religious freedom.  It has created a Religious Liberty Commission, increased funding for faith-based schools and changed vaccine policies to allow more religious exemptions.
Discussion: Raw Story, NOTUS and NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:   Republicans are ramping up attacks on Muslims — and getting rewarded
Nick Lichtenberg / Fortune:
The national debt just crossed $39 trillion—almost doubling since Trump vowed to erase it  —  The United States national debt crossed $39 trillion for the first time Tuesday, arriving at the grim milestone less than five months after it first hit $38 trillion in late October …
Discussion: The Hill and Fox Business
 
 
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 More Items: 
Max Rego / The Hill:
GOP state AGs backing SAVE Act
Discussion: WFMD AM and New York Times
Lara Seligman / Wall Street Journal:
What U.S. Marines Can Do to Help Reopen the Strait of Hormuz
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
D.C.'s hottest ticket: Trump's UFC fight night
Discussion: The Independent
Samuel Chamberlain / New York Post:
Republicans overwhelmingly back Trump over Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly on Iran war, poll finds
Discussion: The Independent
Joseph Zeballos-Roig / Vox:
Trump's tariffs are illegal now. Do I get a refund on this Argentine penguin?
Discussion: WVEC
New York Times:
Ozempic Is About to Go Generic for Billions of People
 Earlier Items: 
New York Times:
‘Go Big and Go Loud’: Inside the Justice Dept.'s Push to Prosecute Protesters
Washington Post:
Trump breaches firewall between watchdogs and agencies they investigate
Discussion: ProPublica
Ian Ward / Politico:
The Number of MAGA Fractures Is Growing
Discussion: RealClearPolitics and Raw Story
Meghan Bartels / Scientific American:
COVID probably killed 150,000 more people in its first two years than official U.S. tolls show
Discussion: Associated Press and Gizmodo
Bill Donahue / Billboard:
Afroman Wins Verdict Rejecting Lawsuit Filed by Ohio Cops Over Mocking Music Videos
Brent Lang / Variety:
Val Kilmer Resurrected by AI to Star in ‘As Deep as the Grave’ Movie — First Look (EXCLUSIVE)
 

 
From Techmeme:

Agnee Ghosh / Bloomberg:
OpenAI agrees to acquire Astral, which makes Python tools for developers, to integrate its team into Codex, and says Codex has 2M+ users, up 3x since January

Janko Roettgers / Lowpass:
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says Meta will keep Horizon Worlds in VR “for existing games”, a day after Meta said Quest owners will lose access from June 15

Rustin Banks / The Keyword:
Google updates Stitch to let users turn natural language prompts into UI designs, introducing an “AI-native” software design canvas and a reasoning design agent

 
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