The Daily Brief - Mar. 13, 2026
The latest on voter ID laws, Iran, and more
These are today’s top stories, delivered straight to your inbox. Read below to catch up on all the news you might’ve missed.
Iran Update
An Air Force KC-135 refueling tanker crashed in western Iraq, killing all six crew members. Their deaths raised the number of US service members killed in the war to 13. A second jet of the same type, known as a Stratotanker, made an emergency landing in Israel, where it was photographed with a damaged tail fin.
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, an insurgent group loyal to Iran, claimed that it had shot down the first plane and fired on a second one. It did not provide evidence for its claim. The Pentagon denied that the incident was due to enemy or friendly fire. “War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said.
As the war neared the end of its second week, the US military said it was moving a Marine expeditionary force and more warships to the Middle East. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that US and Israeli forces had attacked more than 15,000 targets in Iran. He claimed that Iran’s “missile volume” was down by 90% and its “one-way attack drones” were down by 95%. He also said that Iran was “exercising sheer desperation” in the Strait of Hormuz and that the US would not allow the waterway to “remain contested.”
Reports suggested that the US may be rapidly burning through its inventory of certain weapons. The Financial Times quoted an unnamed individual familiar with American inventories who said that the US had made “a massive expenditure of Tomahawks” and that the Navy would “be feeling this expenditure for several years.”
Russian Sanctions
The United States will temporarily suspend sanctions on Russian oil already at sea in an effort to reduce energy costs.
“To increase the global reach of existing supply, Treasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,“ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced. He said that the exemption would “not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.”
Oil prices have spiked as a result of Iran’s attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. About a fifth of the world’s oil flowed through the strait before the war, but tanker traffic is now effectively stopped. At least 22 commercial ships in the strait and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf have been struck by drones or projectiles since the war began on February 28. Iran has publicly taken responsibility for some of the attacks.
Russia, which depends on oil and natural gas as a major source of revenue, has been under US-led international sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Since the price of oil depends on global supply, allowing more Russian sales could potentially help keep prices down, although the likely magnitude of the effect is not clear. Brent crude oil, the world benchmark, continued trading at around $100 a barrel, up about $30 from before the war started.
New Leader Injured
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was injured during the first day of US and Israeli airstrikes in Iran.
“Iran’s leadership is in no better shape, desperate and hiding,” he said during a press briefing at the Pentagon. “We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured.”
Khamenei issued his first statement as supreme leader earlier this week, but has not yet made a public appearance. President Trump said he believes Khamenei is still alive. He was reportedly injured in the same wave of airstrikes that killed his father, former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with his wife, teenage son, and other members of his family.
Federal Reserve Probe
A judge in Washington has blocked federal prosecutors’ attempts to subpoena Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell as part of an investigation into the Fed’s renovation of its headquarters.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation targeting Powell over his testimony about the $2.5 billion project to update Fed buildings. In a video statement released at the time, Powell said he was being targeted by the White House because he refused to cut interest rates in accordance with President Trump’s wishes.
Judge James E. Boasberg, who made the decision on the subpoenas, agreed with that assessment.
“There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the president or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will,” Boasberg wrote in his decision. “On the other side of the scale, the government has offered no evidence whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the president.”
Powell’s term as chair ends in May. President Trump has not yet named a successor.
Florida Voter ID
Republican lawmakers in Florida passed a bill that would require voters to prove their citizenship when registering, and would also limit which types of identification will be accepted at the polls. The bill passed in a party line vote in the Florida state house, with all Democrats voting against it.
Under the new law, Florida voters would have to provide a document such as a passport or birth certificate to prove their citizenship when registering to vote, and their citizenship would then be verified against government databases. The law was partially modeled after the SAVE Act, a national election reform bill championed by Republicans, which would impose similar requirements around the country. The SAVE Act has passed the House, and is currently stalled in the Senate.
Florida already requires voters to show ID when actually casting a ballot, and the newly passed bill narrows what forms are acceptable — college and retirement home IDs in particular would no longer be valid.
If Florida governor Ron DeSantis signs the bill into law, as he is expected to, it wouldn’t go into effect until after this year’s midterm elections.
Synagogue Attack Update
The suspect who rammed his truck into a Michigan synagogue, drove it down a hallway, and was confronted by security guards, has been identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali.
Ghazali was born in Lebanon and became a naturalized US citizen in 2016. Four members of his family were killed recently in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
There were 140 children inside an early childhood center and kindergarten that was attached to the synagogue. Rabbi Josh Bennett said the temple had trained security officers which helped them react quickly.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said this morning, “Yesterday’s attack was antisemitism… It was hate, plain and simple.” She vowed to fight this “ancient and rampant evil.” Ghazali was found dead in his car, after engaging with security guards.
University Shooter Linked to ISIS
A gunman who killed one person and injured two others at Old Dominion University in Virginia had previously been convicted of attempting to help ISIS.
In 2016 Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was arrested and pleaded guilty for “attempting to provide material support” to ISIS, according to Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk field office.
He tried multiple times to buy guns, and was arrested in an FBI sting operation after he bought a rifle. He had also told an undercover FBI agent that he wanted to carry out an attack similar to the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009.
Jalloh spent seven years in prison before being released in 2024.
Jalloh was a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone who joined the Army National Guard when he was 19. He yelled “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire in an ROTC classroom yesterday, killing instructor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, who was a decorated war veteran. Shah had earned two Bronze Stars along with other awards, according to The New York Times.
Jalloh was subdued and killed by a group of ROTC students.
Florida being Florida again. 🙄
The military is not moving a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). MEFs are the biggest organizational unit of the MC and there are three of them (US east coast, US west coast, and Japan/Asia). They are moving a Marine Expeditionary Unit, per the article linked, which is a subset of a MEF. Saying that the military is moving a MEF is like saying they’re moving 1/3 of the entire Marine Corps.