March 10

One Big Beautiful Bill Act passes House 215-214 and Senate 50-50 with Vice Presidential tie-breaker

H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed the House by a single vote (215-214) and cleared the Senate when the Vice President broke a 50-50 deadlock. Three Republican senators voted against the bill. The legislation was structured as a budget reconciliation measure, which allows the Senate to pass legislation with a simple majority rather than the 60-vote threshold required to break a filibuster. The CBO scored the final package at $2.4 trillion in new deficits over ten years, with roughly $4.2 trillion in gross tax cuts and spending increases offset by approximately $1.8 trillion in spending reductions, primarily from Medicaid, SNAP, and student loan programs. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it. Collins and Tillis cited the bill's changes to Medicaid eligibility as their primary reason for opposing it.

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Anthropic sues Pentagon over AI safety blacklisting, backed by Microsoft and 22 retired generals

Anthropic files suit in federal district court challenging the Pentagon's blacklisting as arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. The company argues the DOD had no regulatory authority to bar it from defense contracts for maintaining safety guardrails, and that the blacklisting violated its due process rights. Microsoft files an amicus brief supporting Anthropic, as do 22 retired generals and admirals who argue that removing AI safety constraints from military systems creates more operational risk than it resolves. The case becomes a test of whether the government can compel AI companies to remove safety limits as a condition of federal contracting.

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Anthropic sues Pentagon over AI safety contract blacklisting

Anthropic filed suit against the Department of Defense on March 10, 2026, challenging its blacklisting from Pentagon AI contracts after the company refused to remove safety guardrails from its Claude models for weapons applications. The lawsuit was backed by Microsoft and 22 retired generals who argued that cutting off safety-focused AI firms undermined national security. The Pentagon had blacklisted Anthropic in February 2026 after the company declined to allow its models to be used for autonomous lethal targeting without human oversight.

Iran war pushes oil to $120, threatening Trump affordability promise

Brent crude oil briefly hit $120 per barrel on March 10 — the highest price since 2022 — as Iran continued threatening to block all tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The spike put oil on track to add more than one percentage point to consumer prices, directly contradicting Trump's signature economic promise to lower costs. Analysts at Northeastern University and Goldman Sachs warned sustained $100-plus oil would prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates.

Trump floats U.S. takeover of Strait of Hormuz as oil tops $119 a barrel

President Trump said the United States might seize control of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran to keep it open for commercial shipping after Iran declared the strait closed on March 4. Brent crude topped $119 a barrel, a more than 30 percent spike since the war began. Trump later floated renaming the waterway the "Strait of America" or "Strait of Trump." Iran's closure of the strait, through which approximately 20 percent of global oil supply transits, created an immediate global energy crisis.

Iran threatens to block all Middle East oil as Trump weighs Russia sanctions relief

Iran's IRGC announced it would extend its Strait of Hormuz closure to block all Middle East oil exports from Gulf states that permitted U.S. military operations, threatening Saudi, Emirati, and Kuwaiti shipments. Simultaneously, Trump administration officials told reporters the president was weighing temporary relief from Russia oil sanctions to increase global supply and relieve price pressure at home. Critics warned that easing Russia sanctions mid-war would hand Putin a geopolitical reward for providing targeting intelligence to Iran.

Hegseth tells 60 Minutes public will not be told if U.S. troops enter Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS News 60 Minutes the Trump administration would not disclose to the public whether U.S. troops entered Iran, saying "you don't tell the enemy, you don't tell the press, you don't tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation." Hegseth confirmed no overt or covert forces were then operating in Iran but refused to rule out ground troops, adding "We're willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful."

Trump blocks state AI laws as Commerce names onerous state regulations for federal preemption

The Commerce Department publishes a list of state AI laws it has designated as "onerous" under Trump's December 2025 executive order on AI preemption, signaling they will be federally preempted. States named include California's AB 2013 algorithmic transparency law, Illinois' AI Video Interview Act, and New York City's Local Law 144 on AI in hiring. The FTC simultaneously announces it will not enforce Biden-era AI guidance in states that have their own stricter rules. Consumer groups warn the coordinated action creates a regulatory vacuum for AI discrimination in hiring, lending, and housing that will take years to fill.

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Red states advance 200-plus medication abortion restriction bills in 2026 sessions

Republican-controlled legislatures advanced more than 200 bills targeting medication abortion during 2026 state sessions, replicating Texas and Louisiana laws restricting mifepristone prescribing, mail distribution, and pharmacy dispensing. The wave followed the 2022 Dobbs decision returning abortion regulation to states, and came as the Fifth Circuit simultaneously reviewed FDA rules governing mifepristone mail distribution. States including Texas, Louisiana, Idaho, and Tennessee were furthest along in restricting the pill, which accounts for more than half of all US abortions.

Election deadline: Mississippi Congressional Primary 2026

Voting for Mississippi Congressional Primary 2026 occurs on this date. Offices on ballot: U.S. Senate; U.S. House (4 seats). See the linked election record for registration, early voting, and mail ballot deadlines.

U.S. intercepts encrypted Iranian transmission that may activate domestic sleeper cells

U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted an encrypted radio transmission "likely of Iranian origin" relayed across multiple countries that may serve as "an operational trigger" for sleeper assets inside the United States and abroad. The transmission was encoded and appeared to target "clandestine recipients" with an encryption key, bypassing internet and cellular networks. Federal officials issued an alert to domestic law enforcement agencies stressing there was "no operational threat tied to a specific location" but urging heightened situational awareness.

ICE discloses 11 custody deaths as court orders justification for journalist detention

ICE disclosed that 11 people had died in its custody since January 2025, a rate outpacing previous years, as federal courts began scrutinizing detention practices. A federal judge issued a show-cause order requiring DHS to justify its warrantless detention of Estefany Rodriguez Florez, a Nashville journalist arrested on March 4 while covering ICE operations. Rodriguez Florez was released on $10,000 bond on March 19 after 16 days in custody.

Commerce Department names onerous state AI laws targeted for federal preemption

The Commerce Department published a list of state AI regulations it designated as onerous and announced the administration would seek federal preemption of those laws by a deadline of March 10, 2026. The order directed federal agencies to identify and challenge state laws that imposed safety or transparency requirements on AI systems the administration viewed as conflicting with federal AI development goals. At least 17 states had passed AI-related legislation since 2023 that now faced potential nullification.

Pentagon confirms 140 wounded and 7 killed in 10 days as Senate Democrats emerge furious from briefing

The Pentagon disclosed on Day 10 of Operation Epic Fury that approximately 140 U.S. service members had been wounded — 8 severely — and 7 killed in combat, with casualties distributed across sites in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Senate Democrats emerged from a classified briefing uniformly furious, with Senator Richard Blumenthal calling it "incoherent" and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying the administration's story "changes by the hour." Democrats threatened to shut down Senate floor proceedings unless Majority Leader John Thune allowed public hearings on the war.

Senate confirms Gen. Joshua Rudd as NSA and Cyber Command director, 71-29

The Senate confirmed Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd as director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command on March 10, 2026, by a 71-29 vote, ending an 11-month leadership vacancy. President Trump fired the previous director, Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, in April 2025. Rudd, who came from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's special operations structure, is the first permanent director of the dual-hat role since Haugh's termination and was simultaneously promoted to four-star general.

NYT and Bellingcat confirm U.S. Tomahawk struck Minab girls' school, killing 156

Investigations by The New York Times and Bellingcat geolocated footage and identified missile fragments at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Hormozgan province, confirming the munition as a U.S.-made UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile. The strike on February 28 — the first day of Operation Epic Fury — killed 156 people including approximately 120 schoolchildren. A preliminary U.S. military inquiry later concluded American forces were likely responsible due to stale intelligence data, constituting a targeting error.

DC Bar files ethics charges against DOJ official Ed Martin over Georgetown letter

The DC Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed a formal ethics complaint against Ed Martin, the DOJ Pardon Attorney and former interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., on March 10, 2026. The complaint alleged Martin violated professional conduct rules when he sent Georgetown Law a letter threatening to bar its students from DOJ fellowships unless the school abandoned DEI programs — coercing the school to relinquish First Amendment rights to obtain a government benefit. Martin had also reportedly attempted to evade the disciplinary office by ignoring its correspondence.

Trump calls Iran war a "short-term excursion" at GOP retreat to calm nervous Republicans

President Trump told congressional Republicans at their retreat in Doral, Florida that the Iran military campaign was "a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil," repeating "short-term, short-term" as the room applauded. The remarks came as jittery House Republicans faced a 219-212 war powers vote, drooping polls, and oil prices above $119 per barrel. Analysts noted the language contradicted administration statements that Operation Epic Fury would continue until Iran met "unconditional surrender" demands.

New Mexico searches Epstein Zorro Ranch after FBI sat on buried-bodies tip for six years

New Mexico investigators searched Jeffrey Epstein's former 7,500-acre Zorro Ranch on March 10, 2026, after January 2026 DOJ releases of 3 million Epstein file pages revealed two 2019 communications the FBI had received and never acted on: an anonymous email alleging two foreign girls were buried on the property, and a retired state police officer's report of a suspicious barn with a concealed incinerator. The FBI had searched Epstein's Manhattan, Palm Beach, and Caribbean Island properties but deliberately excluded Zorro Ranch.

Connecticut signs voter privacy law as DOJ sues state for voter-roll data

Connecticut enacted legislation restricting disclosure of voters' birth dates from voter registration files on March 10, 2026, directly in response to a DOJ lawsuit demanding the state turn over unredacted voter data including Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers. The DOJ had sued Connecticut and 28 other states after they refused federal demands for sensitive voter data. A federal court was scheduled to hear arguments on March 19 in United States v. Thomas, the test case for whether the executive branch can compel states to expose sensitive voter records.

Arizona moves to ban teacher strikes as Maryland moves to legalize them

Arizona Republicans advanced legislation in March 2026 to prohibit teachers from striking or engaging in organized work stoppages, with violations triggering state funding cuts to offending school districts. The bill followed January 2026 Tucson teacher sick-outs tied to a national Day of Action. Simultaneously, Maryland Democrats advanced a bill to repeal their state's existing teacher strike ban and grant public school employees the right to strike without retaliation, creating the sharpest coast-to-coast split on teacher labor rights in decades.

Army discloses four Skydio surveillance drones stolen from Fort Campbell four months earlier

The U.S. Army publicly disclosed on March 10, 2026, that four Skydio X10D military surveillance drones were stolen from a 101st Airborne Division storage facility at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on November 21-24, 2025 — more than four months before disclosure. The thieves had authorized base access, defeated locked storage cages, and were captured on surveillance video. Each drone carries a 48-megapixel telephoto camera capable of identifying individuals from 2,400 feet; the Army offered a $5,000 reward and identified two suspects by March 12.