The Daily Brief - Mar. 23, 2026
The latest on Iran, SCOTUS hearing on mail-in ballots, and more
These are today’s top stories, delivered straight to your inbox. Catch up here on all the news you might’ve missed.
Paused Iran Strikes
President Trump said today that the US will pause planned strikes on Iran’s power plants, citing “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS” over the weekend. The pause is to last for five days. But Iran’s state-affiliated Fars News Agency denied having any talks — direct or through intermediaries — with Washington.
The president’s announcement walked back the 48-hour ultimatum he issued over the weekend on Truth Social, when he demanded Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz — which Tehran has largely blocked to commercial traffic — or face strikes. In response, Iran had warned it would target energy infrastructure across the Middle East if attacked.
Soon after Trump’s announcement of the pause, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 1,000 points, while the price of Brent crude fell sharply, dropping from roughly $114–$119 per barrel into the low-to-mid $90s.
Columbus Statue
The White House installed a 13-foot, one-ton statue of Christopher Columbus on the grounds of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just steps from the West Wing. The statue is a replica of one toppled and thrown into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in 2020 during nationwide Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s murder.
Protesters targeted Columbus as a symbol of the genocide and exploitation of Native Americans. The replica was gifted to the White House by the Italian American Organizations United of Baltimore after city officials refused to reinstall the original or its replacement in public.
It was constructed in part using pieces of the shattered original retrieved from the harbor. Trump, who vowed in an April social media post that “Christopher is going to make a major comeback,” has also announced reinstating Columbus Day, which some states and localities have replaced with Indigenous Peoples Day.
DHS Shutdown and SAVE Act
As the partial government shutdown entered its sixth week, President Trump announced Sunday that he won’t sign any DHS funding agreement unless Democrats back the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election overhaul bill that would require Americans to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote.
Airports around the country have seen long lines with TSA struggling to manage security screenings. More than 400 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began. On March 21 alone, more than 11% of the TSA workforce nationwide called out from work, the highest rate since the standoff began.
The US House of Representatives is set to leave Washington for a two-week recess, beginning this Friday. While the Senate is considering whether to remain in session if the shutdown persists, House GOP leaders say they don’t plan to cut their break short to reach a deal.
Newsbreak
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ICE at Airports
The Trump administration has begun deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to major US airports to assist overstretched TSA officers during the shutdown.
Unpaid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have continued to quit or call out, creating staffing shortages nationwide. ICE, funded through a separate allocation, has avoided the same constraints.
Officials say ICE agents will take on limited roles like monitoring exits and assisting with logistics, not full screening duties. But unions and Democratic lawmakers argue the move risks politicizing airport security and could make some travelers, especially immigrants, feel targeted.
But ICE agents conducted an enforcement operation inside San Francisco International Airport on Sunday, arresting a woman and her daughter. The arrest was captured on social media, where a poster claimed the woman was a US citizen. DHS later said they have a removal order against them, and that they were in the country illegally.
Meanwhile, Trump said today that he does not want ICE agents to wear masks at airports “when helping our Country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports.”
SCOTUS Mail-In Ballots
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority voiced skepticism of state laws that allow the counting of mail in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day, but that arrive after it.
The case — Watson v. Republican National Committee — is about whether states may count mail-in ballots received after Election Day. It centers on a Mississippi law, enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, that allows ballots to be received up to five days late so long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
The RNC and the state Republican party sued Mississippi’s Secretary of State in 2024, arguing that the law is illegal because federal statutes require elections for Congress and president to occur on a single “Election Day,” and that means all ballots must be received by Election Day, not just mailed by then.
Mississippi argues the law is valid because voters “cast” their ballot when they mail it by Election Day. The state has pointed out that the 5-day grace period (for ballots postmarked by Election Day) simply accounts for mail delays and therefore, the election still happens on Election Day — and the later arrival is just logistics.
The court’s six conservative justices repeatedly pressed Mississippi’s lawyer on what it actually means for a ballot selection to be complete — pointing out that federal law requires ballots to be considered final by Election Day, not merely postmarked.
But the court’s liberal justices indicated they would vote to uphold state laws that allow with post-Election Day deadlines, largely as a matter of upholding state rights over their own voting rules.
They also warned the challenge could jeopardize early voting and make it harder for military members to cast ballots.
The Court is expected to make a decision by June — just months before the November 2026 midterm elections. The outcome could affect voters in 13 other states and Washington, DC.
CA Sheriff Seizes Ballots
A California sheriff running for governor has seized roughly 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election as part of an effort to investigate what he claims could be fraudulent counting, a claim that local election officials have refuted.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, has defended the seizure as a necessary step to ensure transparency, framing his campaign around claims of widespread election irregularities.
Bianco launched the investigation after the Riverside Election Integrity Team, a third-party organization, claimed to have found around 45,000 excess votes in the November 2025 special election on Proposition 50 — a redistricting measure that favors Democrats in the midterms.
The move has drawn immediate criticism from state officials and voting rights groups, who argue that law enforcement lacks authority to unilaterally confiscate ballots.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the seizure of the ballots is “unprecedented in both scope and scale” and “not to be based on facts or evidence.” He also warned it would sow distrust in elections.
LaGuardia Crash
A crash at LaGuardia Airport yesterday killed two pilots and injured about 40 passengers after an Air Canada regional jet collided with a fire truck on the runway. Two Port Authority officers were seriously hurt.
The crash caused an immediate shutdown of the airport and disrupted flights across the region. Federal investigators are now examining how the aircraft and emergency vehicle ended up on the same path.
Air traffic control audio revealed a controller had cleared the vehicle to cross the runway, then urgently reversed course — seconds too late. The controller was later heard saying, “I messed up.”
This is the latest in a string of aviation accidents around the country. In January 2025, an American Airlines regional jet collided mid-air with a US Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft. Months later, in November 2025, a UPS cargo plane lost its left engine during takeoff from Louisville, KY, and plowed into an industrial area seconds after liftoff, killing the three-person crew and 12 people on the ground.
I just resubscribed to help support the cause. Two comments I've wanted to make here:
1) I love these daily briefs. They're exactly what I need to keep up with recent events. Please keep them going.
2) Do they always have to be delivered "straight to your inbox"? Couldn't we get them "LGBTQ+ to your inbox" from time to time? Feels more inclusive that way.
Thanks!
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