White House expected to face questions on Iran school shooting as Karoline Leavitt briefs press – US politics live | US news
Jasmine Crockett concedes to James Talarico after he secures Democratic Senate nomination in Texas
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett conceded to James Talarico this morning, after the state representative secured the Democratic Senate nomination in Texas. Crockett said that she called Talarico to congratulate him.
“Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person,” she said. “This is about the future of all 30 million Texans and getting America back on track. With the primary behind us, Democrats must rally around our nominees and win.”
Crockett added that she is “committed” to working to elect Democrats “up and down the ballot”.
Key events
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is due to hold a briefing for reporters shortly.
We can expect questions about the US-Israel war on Iran and more information about the deadly strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed more than 160 people. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth evaded questions about the attack during his press conference earlier, and repeated the administration’s stance that the conflict could drag on as long as the president deems necessary. A reminder that later today, the Senate will vote on a war powers resolution to curb Donald Trump’s military action in Iran. However, Democrats are unlikely to achieve the votes needed for it to advance.
We will have a live feed at the top of this blog and will bring you the latest updates as we get them.
Fran Lawther
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has criticized the Trump administration’s “chaos and incompetence” in its efforts to to help Americans stranded in the Middle East return to the United States.
The state department said on Wednesday that 8,500 Americans returned on Tuesday. But hundreds are still thought to be in the region as the US-Israel war on Iran intensifies. A statement on the state department website says officials will “actively assist” any Americans who wish to leave the Middle East.
But Schumer blasted those efforts as too little, too late. Writing on X on Wednesday, he said:
double quotation mark Hundreds of Americans, including many New Yorkers, are stranded across the Middle East, and the state department’s message is basically ‘good luck.’ Evacuation warnings were issued three days into the war, with airspace shut down and no U.S. government flights in place. This is what happens when you recklessly gut the State Department under DOGE and rush into a war with no plan. Zero planning, zero strategy, and now Americans are paying the price.
Cate Brown
The US airstrike on an Iranian warship that killed more than 80 crew members is illegal, according to Wes Bryant, a former US air force special operations targeting expert and former chief of civilian harm assessments at the Pentagon.
The Iris Dena, a 1.5-ton warship bearing Iranian missiles, was reportedly transiting home after participating in training exercises hosted by the Indian navy at the time of the strike, according to Indian press. India had convened naval assets from 74 countries for a March exercise.
“Was that warship actively posing a threat or participating in hostilities?” asked Bryant. “You cannot say that this warship was an imminent threat to anyone. By targeting it, is the Trump administration saying that the imminent threat is all of Iran’s government and military?”
“If so, that’s an incredibly dangerous example of military overreach,” Bryant said.
The bigger picture is that lawyers have said that the US operations against Iran are patently illegal, and several have raised concerns about the broader conflict that US aggression has kicked off.
“I’m holding Trump responsible, not just for US military strikes, but for the foreseeable consequences of launching these attacks,” said Brian Finucane, a former state department lawyer. “It was not only foreseeable, but it was also widely predicted that Iran would respond … That’s why aggression is a crime under international law. ”
House ethics committee opens investigation into Tony Gonzales
The House ethics committee announced today that it will open an investigation into Texas congressman Tony Gonzales, following accusations that he had an extramarital affair with an aide in his office.
In a statement, the committee said it would examine whether Gonzales engaged in sexual misconduct or discriminated unfairly by “dispensing special favors or privileges”.
Last month, the San Antonio Express-News reported that it had obtained text messages in which former staffer Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, 35, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with Gonzales.
Santos-Aviles died by suicide in September last year, after she set herself on fire in the back yard of her home in Uvalde, Texas.
Gonzales is now facing a runoff in the Republican primary race for his district after he failed to secure 50% of the vote, amid the allegations of his affair. He’ll now face Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and YouTube personality, again in May.
During a particularly tense exchange with ranking member Jamie Raskin, the homeland security secretary once again refused to retract her comments calling the two US citizens shot by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis “domestic terrorists”.
“You told a lie about them,” the top Democratic on the judiciary committee said, while Noem offered her condolences to Renee Good’s and Alex Pretti’s families. She also noted that their are “ongoing investigations” into their deaths.
“You stated the conclusion two hours after they were killed,” Raskin said. “I wanted to give you an opportunity to correct the record, not just for their family, but for everybody in America who believes in the truth and fairness and honesty in every situation.”
The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, is back on Capitol Hill today, this time for a hearing before the House judiciary committee.
She’s answering questions from lawmakers, a day after she refused to retract or apologize for her comments branding Renee Good and Alex Pretti “domestic terrorists”, after they were fatally shot by federal immigration officers.
One quick note, while responding to a line of questioning by Tom McClintock, Noem said that “70% of those in our detention centers have criminal records, roughly over half a million”.
However, a Guardian analysis that ranking member Jamie Raskin just entered into the record shows that 77% of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction.
The latest data collated by the Guardian also finds that 24,500 people in immigration detention have no criminal record as of 7 February 2026. This is the single largest group among the 68,290 people currently detained.
Jasmine Crockett concedes to James Talarico after he secures Democratic Senate nomination in Texas
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett conceded to James Talarico this morning, after the state representative secured the Democratic Senate nomination in Texas. Crockett said that she called Talarico to congratulate him.
“Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person,” she said. “This is about the future of all 30 million Texans and getting America back on track. With the primary behind us, Democrats must rally around our nominees and win.”
Crockett added that she is “committed” to working to elect Democrats “up and down the ballot”.
Senate to vote on war powers resolution to prevent Trump from continuing Iran conflict
Chris Stein
Senate Republicans are on Wednesday expected to vote down a Democratic-backed war powers resolution that would prevent Donald Trump from continuing the conflict against Iran, with John Thune, the majority leader, arguing the president is “acting in the best interest of the nation”.
Democrats have condemned Trump for ordering an air campaign against Iran without first seeking permission from Congress, while offering shifting explanations of its objectives. The war powers resolution introduced by Democratic senators Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff and Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, would force an end to US participation in the current hostilities and require the president to go to Congress before re-entering the war.
The resolution will require 50 votes to advance. Democrats control 47 seats, but John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania senator, said he will oppose the resolution, meaning they’ll need at least five Republicans to join with them for it to succeed.
The odds of that happening dimmed on Tuesday when Thune told reporters he believes Trump has the proper authorization for the campaign, which the US military is carrying out alongside Israel.
“The president has the authority that he needs to conduct the activities, the operations that are currently under way there,” Thune replied at a Tuesday press conference, when asked if Trump should at some point seek congressional approval to continue the conflict.
A reminder, we were watching for opinions in three highly anticipated cases today.
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Louisiana v Callais: A high-stakes voting rights case in which the court’s conservative majority appears poised to gut one of the most powerful provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
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Trump v Cook: Donald Trump’s case for firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, as he continues to exert greater control over the US central bank.
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Trump v Slaughter: A case which examines the legality of Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member, Rebecca Slaughter.
None of these rulings were issued, so we’ll make sure to bring you the latest when the court sets its next decision day.
Supreme court to issue opinions
We’re poised to bring you the latest from the supreme court, where it’s decision day.
One box has been brought out, which usually suggests we can expect up to two rulings.
We’ll also hear from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, as she holds a briefing for reporters at 1pm ET.
I’ll bring you the latest lines, particularly with regard to the latest developments on the US-Israel war on Iran.
Trump to host tech giants at White House for pledge to cover data center energy costs
Donald Trump is in Washington today. We won’t hear from the president until 3pm ET, when he will hold a roundtable event at the White House with some of the country’s biggest tech companies. Those present are expected to sign on to Trump’s “ratepayer protection pledge” – a voluntary agreement he discussed at his record-breaking State of the Union speech – which would commit tech giants to paying for or building the electricity needed to operate energy-guzzling data centers across the country.
It comes as consumers are increasingly concerned about the strain that data centers place on the electrical grid, and what that means for their individual energy bills.
My colleague Dharna Noor has been reporting on the pushback to the pledges, noting how some climate experts feel that it’s a “toothless” promise “based on backroom deals with his own billionaire donors”. Other experts she’s spoken to say that while the agreement is “a good start”, the pledges don’t go far enough, and they’re not enforceable.
The Pentagon briefing today was similar to the defense secretary’s last public update on the military action in Iran. He was bellicose, and portrayed an image of the US in complete control of the situation.
“Iran cannot outlast us,” Hegseth said in closing. “Ultimately, we set the pace in the tempo the enemy’s is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”
While speaking to reporters, Hegseth noted that Middle East allies, such as Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, “are all defending their people with their own combat capability with precision and restraint”.
He noted that these neighboring nations are “reaching out to the US” in order to counter Iran’s attacks. “Whether they’re going on offense, which they are, whether they’re giving us additional access basing and overflight, we’re working very closely and collaborating with them.”
Hegseth said there is ‘no sense’ that Iran’s targeting of Turkey could trigger Article 5
Following reports that a missile launched from Iran, and heading towards Turkish airspace, was shot down by Nato air defence systems, Hegseth said there was “no sense” that this would trigger Article 5 of the Nato treaty.
This is the core tenet of the organization that an attack on one member of Nato is an attack against all member countries. Article 5 has been invoked only once – in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
During today’s Pentagon briefing, Hegseth claimed that US forces “quietly ensured that our defensive posture and power was in place” before building up “offensive combat power”.
He said that the US moved “over 90%” of troops on American bases “out of the range of Iranian fire”.
However, his claims come a day after his defense department identified four of the six US service members killed during a drone strike on an American base in Kuwait.
Pentagon says Trump assassination‑attempt suspect killed in strikes
Joseph Gedeon
Killed in the strikes on Iran is the person who led a plot to assassinate Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth confirmed on Wednesday morning.
“The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing.
The plot dates back to 2024, when federal prosecutors under the Biden administration charged 51-year-old Iranian national Farhad Shakeri and two New York men with running a murder-for-hire operation on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The aim, the department of justice said at the time, was revenge for Trump’s killing of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in 2020.
Shakeri had been personally directed by an IRGC official to assassinate Trump during the presidential campaign, prosecutors said.
Hegseth says US ‘investigating’ strike on Iranian girls school that killed more that 160 people
The defense secretary was evasive when asked about the bombing of an Iranian girls’ elementary school four days ago, which killed up to 168 people according to Iran’s state media.
“All I can say, is that we’re investigating,” Hegseth said, while providing no information clarifying whose munition was responsible for the strike.
My colleagues Tessa McClure and Deepa Parent have reported that the missile directly hit Shajareh Tayyebeh school, in Minab, southern Iran, demolishing its concrete building and killing dozens of seven to 12-year-old girls.
Hegseth, however, said that US forces “never target civilian targets” at his press conference today.
