10 Boats, 10,000 Troops
Plus: a pause on power plant bombing, an executive order to fund the TSA, a tentative plan to end the DHS shutdown, and more…
Iran has allowed 10 "big boats of oil" to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said on Thursday. The president heralded the ships as a "present" from Iran and a sign that peace negotiations are going well.
Meanwhile, at the Pentagon: Maybe we should send in 10,000 additional ground troops!
Ah, yes, 10,000 more soldiers—the universal sign that peace negotiations are going well.
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The 10,000 troops "would likely include infantry and armored vehicles, would be added to the roughly 5,000 Marines and the thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who have already been ordered to the region," reports The Wall Street Journal. "It is unclear where precisely forces will go in the Middle East, but they will likely be within striking distance of Iran and Kharg Island, a crucial oil export hub off Iran's coast."
Tune in April 6 at 8 p.m.: For now, Trump has continued holding off on the threat he made last Saturday to start bombing Iranian power plants.
But he has also announced a very particular time when the threatened strikes will happen, in a Truth Social post that reads more like an announcement of an upcoming televised appearance than a major escalation of war. "As per Iranian Government request…I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 p.m., Eastern Time," it says.
Mediators of the U.S.-Iranian negotiations said Iran did not request the pause and has not yet responded to the Trump administration's 15-point plan for ending the war. "The odds of success for a cease-fire remain low," reports the Journal, "with Iran and the U.S. staking out maximalist demands that are unacceptable to the other side, the mediators said."
Back on the home front: Trump says he'll pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers by emergency order amid turmoil at U.S. airports and an ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. Does he have the legal authority to do this? Many suspect the answer is no, but Trump has invoked the National Emergencies Act and, tacitly, the rule of "yeah, well, who's going to stop me?"
The whole situation suggests how much those in power don't care about the actual results, so long as they can spin the results to their advantage. Trump "was initially opposed to the idea, believing Democrats were getting the blame for chaos at airports," according to The Wall Street Journal.
The move comes after Republicans blocked plans put forth by Democrats to fund TSA agents while they continued to negotiate about a larger DHS funding bill.
Nonetheless, Trump is framing his move as a last resort amid opposition from Democrats.
Democrats, meanwhile, are challenging Trump on why this wasn't done sooner if it's so legal and necessary. "If the White House believes they have the authority to pay these workers, then every day for the past 41 days, they have been making a conscious decision not to pay them," Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D–Conn.) reportedly commented.
Defund DHS no more: Maybe this TSA pay battle will all be moot if the House passes a DHS funding bill that the Senate agreed to yesterday. The bill would continue to withhold funds from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a portion of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
"After two months of unyielding negotiations, both parties gave up early Friday on reaching a grand accord to reform and fund the Department of Homeland Security," reports Politico. "Instead, Senate Republicans accepted what Democrats have been offering for weeks—cash for all of DHS except for ICE and part of Customs and Border Protection."
Just before heading out on a two-week recess, senators approved the DHS funding measure via voice vote. It now heads to the House, where a vote could happen today.
If it passes, it means Democrats won't get the ICE and CBP reforms they were pushing for—at least not for now—and Republicans won't get the full DHS funding they were pushing for.
But the immigration agencies aren't exactly suffering for lack of funding. "Even if the reconciliation effort falls short, ICE and CBP can operate on what remains of the nearly $140 billion windfall they received under last year's megabill—far more than the total of $28 billion the two agencies were previously set to receive for the current fiscal year," notes Politico.
Scenes from Cincinnati: Dozens of cops in riot gear showed up along the riverfront because…people were mad about an opening day baseball game?
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QUICK HITS
- Casey Means' nomination to be the next U.S. surgeon general has run into some roadblocks. But why does America even need a surgeon general? The position "has become a mouthpiece for every White House's health agenda, which often involves hectoring the public—in uniform—on what they should and should not be consuming," notes The Washington Post's editorial board. "Essentially the surgeon general has become the head nurse of the nanny state."
- Does using a VPN make you fair game for National Security Agency (NSA) spying?
- Alabama birth centers are continuing to push back against the state regulating them like hospitals.
- The Colorado Tamale Act "transcends culture and party and ideology," said state Rep. Ryan Gonzalez (R–Weld County) of the legislation he's cosponsoring to legalize cottage food sales. "We want to basically make it easy for the entrepreneur to succeed and thrive."
- Catholicism is having a moment.
