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Today's Political News Compilation - Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Mar 18
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Below are some of the top political news stories of the day:
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Director of the White House National Economic Council Kevin Hassett stands before a television interview of the White House, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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US national debt surges past $39 trillion just weeks into war in Iran​

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Updated 6:47 PM CDT, March 18, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The national debt surpassed a record $39 trillion on Wednesday, a milestone that comes just weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.

The unprecedented figure highlights competing administration priorities, from passing a massive tax law and boosting defense spending and immigration enforcement to chipping away at the debt itself — the latter of which Donald Trump promised to do as both a candidate and as president.

The Government Accountability Office outlines some of the impact of rising government debt on Americans — including higher borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lower wages from businesses having less money available to invest, and more expensive goods and services. Advocates for a balanced budget also warn that the long-term trend of borrowing more and paying more in interest will force Americans to face tougher fiscal tradeoffs ahead.

Michael Peterson, chair and CEO of the nonprofit Peter G. Peterson Foundation, created to raise awareness of America’s long-term fiscal challenges, said in a statement that “we must recognize this alarming rate of growth and the significant financial burden we are putting on the next generation.” ..

READ THE FULL STORY - AP
www.usatoday.com

White House offers concessions as DHS funding impasse drags on

TSA lines across the country are lengthening and terrorism threats are on the rise as the Department of Homeland Security remains partially shut down.
www.usatoday.com
apnews.com

Democrats storm out of Justice Department leaders' briefing on the Epstein files

Democratic lawmakers have stormed out of a closed-door briefing on the Jeffrey Epstein files by Justice Department leaders, and say they will push to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions under oath about the case.
apnews.com apnews.com
www.usatoday.com

How the "Death to America" chant shaped Iranian views

For decades, Iranian children were forced to chant "Death to America." It left some deeply conflicted.
www.usatoday.com
apnews.com

State Department cut jobs with deep expertise in Middle East as Iran crisis escalates

The widening war in Iran is exposing big gaps at the State Department, especially in the bureau that handles the Middle East.
apnews.com apnews.com
www.aljazeera.com

US intel chief Gabbard says Iran was not rebuilding enrichment prior to war

Gabbard's testimony contradicts one of several justifications Trump has given for launching war with Iran.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
www.foxnews.com

Leaked teachers' union K-12 training presentation rails against Trump administration, red states

Nation's largest teachers union faces criticism for political activism after leaked training docs called democracy 'at stake' and targeted GOP states.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com
apnews.com

Ex-counterterrorism official says he wasn't allowed to share concerns about Iran war with Trump

A former senior counterterrorism official who resigned over the Iran war says he and other national security officials with concerns about U.S. strikes on Iran were not allowed to express those concerns to President Donald Trump.
apnews.com apnews.com
abcnews.com

'Low impulse control': GOP Sen. Paul confronts Trump’s DHS pick Markwayne Mullin at confirmation hearing over 'violence'

If his nomination passes, he could be confirmed as soon as next week.
abcnews.com abcnews.com
www.bbc.com

Five takeaways from Markwayne Mullin's hearing to be Homeland Security secretary

The agency Mullin is vying to run entered its fifth week without funding, and concerns surrounding the budget loomed over questions.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
apnews.com

Trump pays his respects in Delaware to 6 US service members killed in the Middle East

President Donald Trump was present as the remains of six U.S. service members returned from the Middle East to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
apnews.com apnews.com
www.cbsnews.com

Senate votes down effort to restrict Trump's Iran war powers

The Senate defeated a war powers resolution on Wednesday that aimed to block President Trump from ramping up the war with Iran, as the operation approaches a fourth week.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
www.usatoday.com

Stratton survives battle. New faces emerge. Illinois primary takeaways

Juliana Stratton is likely to become the 6th Black woman senator in U.S. history after winning her primary with an anti-Trump message.
www.usatoday.com
apnews.com

Strikes hit world's largest natural gas field in Iran, and Tehran retaliates with more attacks

Iran has broadened its strikes on major energy facilities in the Middle East, eliciting strong warnings from Gulf Arab states that called it a dangerous escalation that threatened to draw them into direct combat with Tehran.
apnews.com apnews.com
www.cbsnews.com

Justice Department blocked release of secret Epstein drug probe file, Sen. Ron Wyden says

Sen. Ron Wyden says he believes the government had "ample evidence" that Epstein was involved in drug trafficking.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
abcnews.com

Former counterterrorism official Joe Kent under investigation over alleged leaks: Sources

Joe Kent, the former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, is under criminal investigation for potentially leaking classified information, sources said.
abcnews.com abcnews.com
apnews.com

About 90 ships cross the Strait of Hormuz as Iran exports millions of barrels of oil despite the war

About 90 ships including oil tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the war with Iran.
apnews.com apnews.com
www.bbc.com

Trump says US will 'massively blow up' major Iranian gas field if it attacks Qatar again

The US "knew nothing" about an Israeli attack on the South Pars gas field, the US president says, but warns Tehran against further retaliation.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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Latest Political News Feed

Pritzker pushes prosecutions of Trump officials as part of Dem ‘Project 2029’ agenda

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 2
Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said that Democrats should seek criminal prosecution against Trump administration and law enforcement officials who have "broken the law" if they were to gain control of the White House in 2028.

Pritzker, who is running for a third gubernatorial term, sat down for an interview with the New York Times in which he proposed Democrats adopt their own version of Project 2025 — the Heritage Foundation's conservative policy blueprint for presidential administrations released in nearly every election cycle since the...
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Trump administration sues Harvard over alleged failure to protect Jewish and Israeli students, seeks billions

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 2
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Friday against Harvard University, alleging that it failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students by essentially enabling antisemitism on campus in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel by Hamas.

The 44-page lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts, is the latest in an ongoing battle between the White House and the Ivy League school. The complaint alleges that Harvard has tolerated antisemitic mobs comprised of students, faculty members and visitors opposed to Israel and has acted with indifference by...
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Reporter's Notebook: GOP pushes election security bill despite slim odds, as Trump pressure looms

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 2
"We have a unique moment in time here, right now, to address an issue that’s really fundamental," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Tuesday.

In just an hour, the Senate would launch debate on the SAVE America Act.

Longtime Congressional agriculture reporter Matt Kaye had just asked Thune why the Senate was willing to burn so much time on the bill – despite it apparently lacking the votes to pass.

"Floor time is the coin of the realm," observed Kaye. "How does it help you if you are using up valuable floor time by having an extended...
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US intel finds no China plan to invade Taiwan by 2027, despite military buildup

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 2
Despite years of warnings that China could move on Taiwan within the decade, the U.S. intelligence community now assesses that Beijing is not planning an invasion of Taiwan by 2027 and has no fixed timeline for doing so.

"The IC assesses that Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027, nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification," according to a newly released Annual Threat Assessment.

The finding marks a shift from prior warnings in Washington that China would have the capability to move on...
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Iran conflict won’t trigger Biden-style refugee replay, expert predicts

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 2
Iran’s instability is unlikely to trigger a Syrian- or Afghanistan-style refugee crisis, a top immigration expert told Fox News Digital, even as questions mount over what comes next for the Iranian people once the fighting subsides.

With Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed in an airstrike, several top officials dead and competing factions vying for control, questions are mounting over whether Iran’s turmoil could trigger a refugee crisis.

However, given the geography and environment in Iran, a mass refugee exodus appears unlikely, according to Andrew...
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House Homeland Security Republican urges US Muslim leadership to 'isolate extremists' after string of attacks

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., issued an open letter calling upon Muslim leadership in the U.S. to condemn a spate of recent attacks in the country, arguing that their silence "legitimizes the concerns of millions of Americans" about Islam.

He specifically indicated that the message was directed toward "Mosques, Imams, and Muslim Religious Leaders Across the United States."

In the letter, Ogles, who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, ran through a list of four recent incidents being investigated as acts or potential acts of terrorism on...
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GOP sheriff leading California poll rips Newsom’s ‘love affair’ with criminals

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican who is ranked at the top of recent California gubernatorial polls, believes that Californians finally have had enough and are ready to end Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Democratic leaders’ "sick and twisted love affair with criminals."

A poll released Wednesday by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies shows that Bianco ranked a close second at 16% among support for candidates running for California governor. Fellow Republican Steve Hilton was ranked first within margin of error at 17%.

Both Republicans are...
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Israel strikes Syria after Druze clashes

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
Syria condemned the strikes on weapons sites and government infrastructure as an "outrageous" assault on Syria's sovereignty.
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Russia, China and the US – the global winners and losers of the Iran war

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
As the conflict triggers economic disruption some risk being hit hard, while others stand to benefit.
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6 highlights from CBS News' interview with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
The United Nations' top nuclear watchdog told CBS News that Iran could revive parts of its nuclear program, though U.S. military strikes have dented it — and said any mission to recover Iran's stockpiles of enriched uranium would be extremely difficult.

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke with "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan on Thursday, as the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran nears the three-week mark. President Trump has pointed to Iran's nuclear program as one catalyst for the war, accusing...
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Publisher cancels horror novel's release over AI claims

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 6
Author Mia Ballard denies having used AI herself when writing the horror story Shy Girl.
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Around 2,200 Marines, 3 warships headed to Middle East as Iran war continues

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
A second Marine Expeditionary Unit of about 2,200 Marines and three warships is headed toward the Middle East, as the war with Iran continues.

The unit departed California earlier this week, according to two U.S. officials. The first one, which is coming from the Pacific, is still making its way toward the region, and this second unit may take a few weeks to be in place.

This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Thune reveals reason Democrats are 'scared' to reopen DHS

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
FIRST ON FOX: The top Senate Republican argued that while Senate Democrats may be the ones voting against reopening the government, they're not the ones calling the shots.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in an interview that as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown continues, it's Democrats' voters who are pushing them to continue blocking funding for the agency.

"The Democrats up here on the Hill are so afraid of their far-left base," Thune said. "And I think the far-left base, their demand right now...
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From ‘jump on a bus’ to tax crackdowns: Blue states chase wealthy residents fleeing to red havens

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul became the latest blue-state leader to lament the flight of wealthy tax-paying residents to Republican-led tax havens like Florida, Alaska, Wyoming and Tennessee, calling millionaires who stayed in the Empire State to fund its massive social services net "patriotic."

With Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declaring his jurisdiction a "free state" for transplants wishing to leave liberal policies and taxation behind, blue states like New York, Illinois and California are squeezing and at times pursuing natives who emigrate to...
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Trump-backed Senate hopeful gains momentum with top GOP endorsements before Mullin DHS shift

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., have both endorsed Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., for U.S. Senate.

"Kevin Hern is a proven conservative leader and fighter for Oklahomans in the House, where he has championed our shared Republican agenda. He will be a great asset in the Senate and has my full support and endorsement," Thune said in a statement.

"Kevin Hern is a principled conservative, Oklahoma-first leader who knows what it means to create jobs and unleash prosperity...
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Most Americans expect Trump to send boots on the ground in Iran — but majority oppose it: Poll

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
Nearly two-thirds of Americans think that President Donald Trump will send U.S. ground troops into the fighting against Iran, a new national poll indicates.

And a Reuters/Ipsos survey, conducted Tuesday through Thursday (March 17–19), also indicates that a majority of Americans, 55%, say they don't support sending ground troops into the operation against Iran.

The poll's release comes as the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran are about to close out their third week.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

Only 7% of those questioned in the...
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Leading anti‑racism activist in Tunisia jailed for eight years

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
Saadia Mosbah campaigned for migrants, particularly after President Kais Saied said they posed a demographic threat to the country.
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Trump makes Pearl Harbor remark in meeting with Japan's PM

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 4
President Trump compared US strikes on Iran to the deadly 1941 Japanese attack and declaration of war as part of World War Two.
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U.S. sues Harvard, alleging it failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
Washington — The Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit against Harvard University on Friday, alleging that it violated federal civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks by Hamas.

In a 44-page suit, the Justice Department asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to find that Harvard unlawfully discriminated against those students through what it said was the school's "intentional conduct and its deliberate indifference to discriminatory harassment...
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Ex-FBI agents involved in Arctic Frost probe sue for wrongful termination

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
Two former FBI agents who helped investigate efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election sued Thursday to challenge their abrupt firings from the bureau, arguing that their terminations were "solely" due to their involvement in the probe.

The two agents, identified only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, accused FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi of politically retaliating against them for their work in the 2020 election case, known internally as "Arctic Frost," despite having played brief and largely administrative roles in...
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Top Dems brush off ties to Imam who held memorial for Iranian leader who vowed 'Death to America'

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 5
FIRST ON FOX: Legacy Democrats and a slew of Michigan Democratic Party lawmakers dismissed concerns over their connections to a radical Imam who eulogized the death of Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei by "the most wretched hands on Earth" and works at a mosque known for being a purveyor of Iranian propaganda.

Dearborn Heights, Michigan Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi's social media pages were a who's who of Michigan Democratic Party politicos, and also included a slew of photos of him with legacy Democrats and Democratic Party officials from other states, before...
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Georgia woman charged with murder over alleged use of abortion pills

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 6
A 31-year-old Georgia woman has been charged with murder by police who say she took pills to induce an abortion in violation of a state law that bans it after the earliest weeks of pregnancy.

If state prosecutors decide to move forward with the murder charge brought by local police against Alexia Moore, her case would be one of the first instances of a woman being charged for terminating a pregnancy in Georgia since it passed a 2019 law banning most abortions.

The arrest warrant charging Moore with murder uses language that echoes the law, saying...
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I didn't know Epstein was a predator - Norway's crown princess

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit has said that she wishes she had never met late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
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WATCH: Dem senators make the case for the very bill they're trying to kill

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
In trying to downplay its seriousness and scope, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., tacitly acknowledged the existence of a problem they've argued is immaterial: that illegal immigrants may be able to unlawfully participate in federal elections.

"The evidence is that almost no illegal aliens vote," Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.

Warnock similarly acknowledged the issue while listing statistics about voting records in his home state.

"8.2 million people are registered to vote in Georgia. The Republican...
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White House unveils its first national AI framework, pushes Congress to act 'this year'

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 6
EXCLUSIVE: The White House on Friday unveiled its first national policy framework for artificial intelligence — a legislative outline to establish a "consistent" national standard for AI development across the nation that prevents censorship and protects free speech and children, Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the legislative framework that the White House will share with congressional leadership Friday as the White House pushes Congress to advance and codify its "commonsense" proposals into law "this year."...
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