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Even the State Department recognizes that the U.S. entered the Iran war on behalf of Israel.A government release written earlier this week by Reed D. Rubinstein, the department’s legal adviser, detailed how the U.S. “is engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States’ own inherent right of self-defense.” The release cited multiple letters issued by the agency to the U.N. Security Council as evidence of the apparent connection.But the candid admission directly contradicts the White House and Donald Trump, who has repeatedly insisted that Israel had nothing to do with his decision to spark another unpopular Middle East war. Just this week, Trump complained online about the circling narrative, claiming on Truth Social that “Israel never talked me into the war with Iran” but that “the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did.”U.S. involvement in the war was reportedly arranged following a February 11 meeting between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and several U.S. and Israeli officials in the White House Situation Room, The New York Times reported earlier this month.It was reportedly Netanyahu’s direct influence—and the ensuing pressure campaign—that thrust America into the war. U.S. military commanders advised Trump that components of Netanyahu’s plan to attack Iran were “farcical,” but by that point, Trump had already been inspired to throw over Tehran’s theocratic regime.It’s likely that Netanyahu continues to hold the reins. Last month, Trump told The Times of Israel that the decision to end the Iran war will be a “mutual” decision he makes with the Israeli leader—though Israel has not made peace negotiations easy, repeatedly defying fragile ceasefire arrangements by relentlessly bombing its regional neighbors. It is not clear exactly what the war in Iran has accomplished. Together, the U.S. and Israel have killed thousands of Iranian civilians and obliterated Iranian civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, 13 U.S. soldiers have died. But the regime has not been overthrown—if anything, it’s gotten more extreme.The war also spiked the cost of living for people around the world and agitated international relations—particularly between the U.S. and longtime allies in the western hemisphere. It has cost American taxpayers more than $1 billion per day (the current total is estimated at more than $60 billion) and sparked a political rejection of MAGA ideology across the U.S. as the American public becomes more and more disillusioned with its increasingly infirm, unstable, and volatile president.

Republican Representative Thomas Kean Jr. of western New Jersey hasn’t voted on a single bill since March 5. Apparently, he’s been ill.Kean Jr. and his staff never explained to his constituents why the lawmaker was suddenly missing in action, but the 57-year-old politician was recently willing to share an update with Republican leadership.House Speaker Mike Johnson told ABC News Friday that he spoke with Kean over the phone the day before, during which the lawmaker explained that he has been dealing with an unspecified “personal health matter.”“I was happy to speak to Tom Kean, Jr. this afternoon by phone,” Johnson said, referring to their Thursday call. “He is attending to a personal health matter and expects to be back to 100 percent very soon. Tom is one of the most dedicated and hardest-working members of Congress, and I am grateful for all he does and will continue to do to serve New Jerseyans and our country.”That lone response was the culmination of a small pressure campaign led by the other two House Republicans from New Jersey: Representatives Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew. Both were unable to make contact with Kean. Van Drew told Politico that it had been “radio silence” from their conservative colleague.New York Republicans were similarly stumped in their efforts to call and text Kean, while other Republicans—such as Representative Don Bacon—were completely unaware of their ally’s absence until they failed to find him on the House floor earlier this week.“I was looking for him,” Bacon said Wednesday. “I didn’t know it was that long.”Kean’s staff told Politico on Wednesday that the lawmaker was struggling with health issues, but did not provide additional details. Harrison Neely, a strategist for the lawmaker, told the publication that Kean will be “back on a regular full schedule very soon.”Kean was elected to represent New Jersey’s 7th congressional district in 2022, and is months away from being thrust into a contentious midterm reelection cycle. He is currently unchallenged in the Garden State’s Republican primary, scheduled for June 2, but is likely to face tremendous opposition from Democrats come November. Over the last several months, New Jersey’s 7th congressional district has shifted from a “lean Republican” advantage to a toss-up, according to an analysis by the Cook Political Report.

It sure seems that the Trump administration is trying to pull a fast one on Senator Thom Tillis. Just hours after the Department of Justice announced Friday that it had dropped the investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the renovation of the central bank’s Washington headquarters, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the case was still ongoing. “The case is not necessarily dropped, it’s just being moved over to the inspector general who has critical tools at their disposal to continue to look into the financial mismanagement at the Fed,” Leavitt said while speaking to reporters. LOL -- Leavitt says the Powell investigation actually isn't over"The case is not necessarily dropped, it's just being moved over to the inspector general. This has been a priority for the president. The investigation still continues." pic.twitter.com/LW4jeKzY9p— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2026As a member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Tillis has repeatedly vowed to exercise his ability to single-handedly block Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, until the investigation into Powell is dropped. Committee Democrats are united in blocking Warsh, so Tillis’s single “no” vote can tip the scales.Tillis has said he believes Donald Trump wasn’t behind the investigation into Powell, even though the president has mocked and threatened to fire him repeatedly. Tillis suggested instead that it was the work of “somebody in the DOJ” who was hoping to “maybe garner favor from somebody in the White House,” according to NBC News. Leavitt didn’t even bother to pretend the president wasn’t behind the investigation. “This has obviously been a priority for the president,” she said. “So the investigation still continues, it’s just under a different authority.”

The figure could be even higher if costs for the Trump administration’s CIA operations were included, researchers said.