Trump admin. asks Congress for $88B in supplemental funding for Iran war, other needs
The Trump administration on Wednesday sent Congress a long-awaited supplemental funding package to help cover the cost of the Iran war.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said “you’d see a grown man cry” if President Donald Trump vetoes a bipartisan housing bill he was meant to ink on Wednesday, but abruptly canceled the landmark bill’s signing. Lawmakers were ready for Trump to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which would ease local regulations and encourage homebuilding, […]
The Trump administration on Wednesday sent Congress a long-awaited supplemental funding package to help cover the cost of the Iran war.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte aggressively flattered President Trump during a Wednesday visit to the Oval Office — sandwiching his over-the-top praise between a claim that Trump was mistaken about European allies snubbing him on Iran.
President Donald Trump refused to consider a compromise to enact parts of the SAVE America Act hours after he canceled signing a housing bill on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon. In response to the Washington Examiner’s question about including provisions of the SAVE America Act in the special legislative process known as reconciliation, Trump was unequivocal. […]
President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly cancel a bill-signing ceremony on Wednesday for a widely popular piece of legislation raised red flags for one political analyst. Trump announced on Truth Social that he was canceling the signing event for a bipartisan housing affordability bill, and said it won't be signed until the SAVE America Act is passed, a bill that would fundamentally transform how American elections are conducted. John Heilemann, a journalist and MS NOW political analyst, warned during a segment on "Deadline: White House" that Trump used a phrase to remember in his Truth Social post announcing the cancellation, one that will become more important as the 2026 midterm elections draw near. "Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby canceled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT," Trump wrote in a pithy post.Heilmann warned that the post revealed Trump's strategy for interfering in the 2026 midterm election. "Donald Trump is starting to broadcast his strategy for interfering with, intervening in, and trying to steal the 2026 election," Heilmann said. "'National emergency' is a phrase that you should remember because I think we're going to start to see it more and more in Donald Trump's communications, both on social media and his language when he talks about these things on the stump. That is how you get to a justification for starting to seize control of the election apparatus and mechanisms ... by which we hold elections. 'National emergency.' He said it right there. I think we are going to hear it again."
'It would have been nice if they said they would like to help'
Against the backdrop of President Trump, Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth pointedly telling NATO of the U.S. intention to draw-down U.S. military operations from Europe, NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte flies to Washington DC to make the pro-NATO sales pitch directly to President Trump. In one of the most transparent appearances in oval office history, […] The post NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte Gives “Remain in NATO” Pitch to President Trump in White House appeared first on The Last Refuge.
Nearly 30 percent of US state governments believe they may be forced to narrow SNAP eligibility to cope with new costs.
Senate Republicans unveiled annual farm legislation this week that would do nothing to address the worsening nationwide hunger crisis spurred by President Donald Trump and the GOP’s unprecedented assault on federal food aid.The draft bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, omits a Democratic proposal to delay a provision of the 2025 Republican budget law that will require states to pay a share of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the first time in the program’s history, while also increasing states’ share of administrative costs. State leaders have warned of massive budgetary impacts that could result in even deeper cuts to food aid—and potentially force states to withdraw from the SNAP program entirelyTy Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), said it was “unconscionable” for Republicans to do nothing in the face of large-scale loss of food aid—including among children—and a looming budgetary disaster for states across the country.“The harm unfolding across the country is already far greater than many anticipated, with more than 4 million people losing SNAP through March,” Cox said in a statement Tuesday. “Even more people will lose the vital food assistance they need to afford groceries unless Congress immediately delays HR 1’s unprecedented shift of significant new SNAP costs to states.”Without congressional action, the SNAP cost-shifting provision of the Republican budget law will take effect on October 1, 2027. Survey data released this month shows that nearly 30% of US state governments believe they could be forced to narrow SNAP eligibility to cope with the new costs, which are expected to average $218 million per state. Eleven percent of states “identified withdrawing from SNAP as a potential risk,” according to the poll conducted by the American Public Human Services Association.It really seems like it should be a bigger deal that 11% of states who responded to this survey identified *withdrawing from SNAP entirely* as a potential risk of the massive cost shift that's about to hit state budgets thanks to H.R. 1. https://t.co/RbsY9LNdLv pic.twitter.com/TKOQIIK0ci— Katie Bergh (@Katie_Bergh) June 23, 2026 Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said Tuesday that the Republican farm bill “ignores the needs of tens of millions of people, including families with children, older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans, who are finding it increasingly difficult to put food on the table.”“By shifting program costs to states, expanding time limits, and putting a cap on future benefit adjustments, HR 1 has undermined SNAP, the stability of families, communities, and local economies, and weakened state budgets,” FitzSimons warned. “The SNAP benefit cost shift to states and increase in states’ administrative costs will force states to make impossible choices: reduce education funding, delay infrastructure investments, cut public health programs, constrain Medicaid spending, raise taxes, or reduce access to SNAP itself.”Senate Republicans unveiled their farm legislation amid a growing hunger and affordability crisis that experts say is directly attributable to Trump-GOP policies, from blanket tariffs to the war on Iran to SNAP cuts that the new bill—like the House version—does nothing to reverse.Survey data released Tuesday by the No Kid Hungry campaign found that 55% of low-income families with children have had to cut back on groceries recently to make ends meet. The poll also found that 90% of families surveyed reported that they “would have to cut back significantly on food” if they lost SNAP benefits.“Rising prices are making it harder for families to afford basic necessities,” George Kelemen, senior vice president of the No Kid Hungry campaign, said in a statement. “That’s why SNAP’s grocery benefit, which helps feed about 40 million Americans including nearly 16 million children, is a vital support for helping them put food on the table.”“This SNAP crisis is too dangerous to ignore,” Kelemen added. “Reasonable steps must be included in this farm bill to delay the cost-sharing until states have the time they need to implement all the complex changes handed to them.”