Trump signals possible strike on Iran nuclear site; Pentagon reveals soaring war cost
The cost of the war in Iran just jumped again, and senators aren’t hiding their frustration. A heated Capitol Hill hearing exposed a new price tag and raised even bigger questions about what’s next.
Plus, a Florida lawmaker already under ethics scrutiny now faces reports of a Justice Department investigation. Rep. Cory Mills calls it a “witch hunt,” but the reported focus of investigators could complicate his re-election bid.
And thousands of noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote in New Jersey due to a DMV software error. The mistake went undisclosed for years, and now the governor is explaining how it happened.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, July 22, 2026.
Trump threatens Iran nuclear site, saying US could strike Pickaxe Mountain
Iran’s military said it launched a new wave of drone attacks into Kuwait, expanding the conflict beyond Iran’s borders.
The attacks came after the 11th consecutive night of U.S. airstrikes inside Iran, targeting aircraft hangars, drone storage sites and military logistics infrastructure.
The latest barrage follows President Donald Trump’s warning that the campaign would intensify. He also threatened to strike Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility.
“It doesn’t mean anything unless they have the material they don’t have. We follow the material. That’s where the action is,” Trump said. “And, we’ll be hitting that area very probably pretty soon. And it’s not a, not a thing they can do about it. You know, normally, I wouldn’t say that if I thought they could do something about it I would never say that. But we’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily.”
The strikes came as Iran’s interior minister, a key figure in talks with the U.S., visited Pakistan, which has been trying to broker a new ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s demand to control the Strait of Hormuz and charge tolls for shipping shows Tehran is not serious about reaching a peace agreement.
“Unfortunately, as of now, despite their direct outreaches — and Iran has been reaching out to the United States, both directly and indirectly, to engage in talks about settling the differences — with regards to what’s happening in that part of the world, unfortunately, so far, even though we have reached agreements, they have not kept their commitments.”
“The problem we’re having right now is that they’re not serious about talks. If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what is necessary to protect that, our interests and also the interests of our allies.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Speaking at the ASEAN conference in the Philippines, Rubio said Iranian control of the strait would threaten the global economy and undermine freedom of navigation across one of the world’s most important shipping routes.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has identified the third service member believed to have been killed in last week’s Iranian attack on a U.S. air base in Jordan as 28-year-old Army Sgt. Angel Rampersad.
On Wednesday, Trump will attend the dignified transfer of four U.S. service members killed in recent fighting, including two soldiers who were killed in that attack.
Hegseth reveals higher war cost estimate topping $37.5 billion
The price tag for the war in Iran just got a lot bigger.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators Tuesday the conflict has now cost an estimated $37.5 billion — up roughly $12 billion from the Pentagon’s last public estimate just a few months ago.
Lawmakers wanted to know whether that number is likely to keep climbing, especially as fighting between the U.S. and Iran continues.
SEN. DICK DURBIN: “Do you have a new estimate about what the war has cost us so far in this, the fifth month of the first year of this war in Iran?”
PETE HEGSETH: “Senator, the estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion.”
DURBIN: “And is the current activity which we’ve been told about the exchange of fire back and forth, in Iran, an indication that that number is going to go up in the months ahead?”
HEGSETH: “Some of that number captures additional O&M [Operations and Maintenance] milpay, and others that would be anticipated through the fiscal year. So some of that anticipates what cost would be going out in the future as well.”
DURBIN: “So the new number you’ve given me is what?”
HEGSETH: “$37.5 billion.”
DURBIN: “And that represents the cost of the war through what period of time?”
HEGSETH: “Through now for certain aspects of it, but also milpay, O&M, other anticipated costs through September 30.”
The hearing at times turned tense.
When Hegseth blamed the Biden administration for the Pentagon’s growing funding request, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed fired back.
HEGSETH: “We had U.S. boats that surrendered to Iranian ships under the Biden administration. So their navy was effective in …”
SEN. JACK REED: “We’re talking about a war you started, not a situation in which oil was flowing freely. There was no conflict. We weren’t losing personnel as a result of Iranian actions. So, your fallback to the Biden administration is just a very, very obvious excuse for what I think is probably, as you describe so often, gross negligence.”
Anti-war protesters interrupted Hegseth multiple times during the hearing, especially after he said the supplemental funding request was not a substitute.
Earlier in the day, Hegseth appeared alongside Trump in the Oval Office, where the president dismissed the idea of direct talks with Tehran for now.
“I will tell you. They want to desperately meet,” Trump said. “And until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting.”
The administration is also asking Congress to approve roughly $70 billion in additional emergency military funding, saying the money is needed to sustain operations, replenish weapons and prepare for what could become a much longer conflict.
Two election fraud accusers win governor, secretary of state primary races in Arizona
Trump-backed Rep. Andy Biggs has captured the Republican nomination for Arizona governor. A staunch Trump ally, Biggs refused to certify the 2020 presidential election and echoed the president’s false claims that the election was stolen.
Biggs will face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November, in what is expected to be one of the country’s most closely watched midterm races.
Meanwhile, Republican State Rep. Alexander Kolodin won the GOP nomination for secretary of state, the office that oversees Arizona’s elections. He’ll face Democratic incumbent Adrian Fontes in November.
Kolodin has repeatedly questioned past election results and helped lead legal challenges seeking to overturn Arizona’s 2020 and 2022 elections.
Republican State Senate President Warren Petersen also won his party’s nomination for attorney general.
He’ll face Democratic incumbent Kris Mayes, who won the office four years ago by just 280 votes out of more than 2.5 million cast.
Software error mistakenly registered thousands of noncitizens to vote in New Jersey
A software error added thousands of noncitizens to New Jersey’s voter rolls. State officials said more than 6,600 noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote in 2023 and 2024 because of a glitch in the state’s motor vehicle system, even though they identified themselves as noncitizens when applying for driver’s licenses or state IDs.
A preliminary review found that fewer than 400 of them actually cast ballots.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said those registrations are now being removed; the software vendor was replaced and an investigation is underway.
In a statement, Sherrill said:
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time … This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now. I am taking action to prevent anything like it from occurring in the future.”
The revelation comes just days after Trump renewed his claims that noncitizen voting is a widespread issue in American elections.
Sherrill said there is no proof any election result was influenced and that those who were wrongly registered committed no wrongdoing.
DOJ reportedly probing Rep. Cory Mills’ finances
The Justice Department has reportedly launched a criminal investigation into embattled Florida Rep. Cory Mills. Sources informed NBC News investigators are reviewing Mills’ financial records, including possible overseas business activities.
Meanwhile, another source told MS Now that the FBI contacted at least one person last year regarding Mills’ finances, allegations of misconduct and people in his orbit.
Mills, seeking re-election, is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegations involving campaign finance violations, misuse of congressional resources and sexual misconduct.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
In a social media post, Mills dismissed the reports as “fake news” and a “witch hunt,” writing, “even the DOJ has not confirmed or made any official statement of such an investigation existing.”
The Republican lawmaker is seeking a third term this November in Florida’s 7th district.
Volunteers restore fossil of one of the largest amphibians ever discovered
In Poland, volunteers are carefully chipping away at the fossil of what may be one of the largest amphibians ever to have roamed the earth.
The mastodonsaurus lived about 240 million years ago, around the time the earliest dinosaurs were just beginning to appear. Paleontologists say it had a flat, crocodile-like head, long jaws filled with sharp teeth and grew to about 20 feet in length.
It spent most of its time hunting fish and smaller amphibians underwater.
Two researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences discovered the skeleton in 2023 and claim there are no other Mastodonsaurus specimens of this size anywhere in the world.
Now, about 2,000 volunteers are helping clean and reassemble the massive fossil at a science lab in Warsaw, where visitors can watch the work up close. Volunteers spend about two hours at a time on the delicate project.
When it’s finished, the restored skeleton will weigh just under 3,000 pounds and go on display this October or November.
More from Straight Arrow:
The biggest threat to students isn’t curriculum or AI. It’s chronic absence
Keeping kids in school. Regardless of differing views on what’s taught in classrooms, the mission to keep kids there is bipartisan.
The problem of truancy had been getting worse for years, and COVID-19 turned it into a crisis. Multiple studies have shown absence to be one of the most detrimental things a kid can do to their academic career. To fight back, states are implementing new laws to combat what’s known as chronic absence.
“It means missing so much school that you are at risk in some way,” Hedy Chang, CEO of Attendance Works, told Straight Arrow.
Chronic absence is generally defined as missing 10% of a school year.
“For example, in a typical 180-day school year, that’s missing 18 days,” Jeremy Singer, assistant professor of education at the University of Michigan, told Straight Arrow.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
