The Daily Brief - Mar. 5, 2026
The latest on Kristi Noem’s firing, Iran, Congressional controversies, and more
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Iran Update
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he expected to have a role in choosing Iran’s next leader.
In an interview with Axios, Trump acknowledged that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s recently killed supreme leader, was a leading candidate to replace his father. But “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me,” Trump said. “We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
Trump compared the Iran operation to the US capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. “I have to be involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader, he said, “like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.”
Separately, Trump told Reuters that he would support efforts by Kurdish groups to attack the Iranian government. “I think it’s wonderful if they want to do that, I’d be all for it,” he said. Iran has a large minority Kurdish population within its borders.
Meanwhile, the exchange of fire in the Middle East continued. Israel said it had launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran, and Iran fired more missiles at Israel. Israel also continued its strikes against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed paramilitary force in Lebanon, and warned residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate their homes.
Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran, accused Iran of launching drones onto its territory and promised a response. Iran denied attacking Azerbaijan and said that Israel was responsible.
A state-owned oil refinery in Qatar was damaged in a fire caused by an Iranian missile. Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted Iranian missiles and drones.
In Europe, NATO members were drawn further into the conflict. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the UK would send four fighter jets to Qatar, and Italy said it was supporting the air defenses of Gulf Arab states.
War Powers Resolution
The Senate rejected a resolution to limit President Trump’s ability to continue the war with Iran. The 53-47 vote on Wednesday was mostly along party lines, with Republican Sen. Rand Paul, a sponsor of the resolution, joining Democrats to support it and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman voting with Republicans to defeat it. The House also narrowly rejected a similar resolution today, 212-219.
If passed, the resolution would have prevented further military action against Iran unless Congress specifically authorizes it. Many Democrats and legal experts assert that the president lacks authority to wage war against Iran because Congress did not approve such action. Under the US Constitution, the power to declare war rests with Congress. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, said before the vote that the president had launched an “illegal regime-change war.”
Republicans have mostly defended Trump’s authority to continue the fight, saying that the commander in chief has broad power to conduct limited military operations without formally declaring war. (Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the White House is required to seek congressional authorization if hostilities extend beyond 60 days, although presidents of both parties have usually considered it unconstitutional.) Some Republicans in the Senate also expressed optimism about the conflict. “The demise of this regime is at hand,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, “and the goal is to make sure they can never be a threat like they were before.”
On Thursday, the House of Representatives was expected to vote on a resolution similar to the Senate one. Passage was considered unlikely and would be largely moot, since the House version would still need to go to the Senate for approval and would then be subject to President Trump’s veto.
Noem Fired
President Trump announced on Truth Social that Kristi Noem would be stepping down as Homeland Security Secretary, and would be replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who represents Oklahoma in Congress. Trump thanked Noem for her service and praised her “spectacular results (especially on the Border!)” in the post. He also wrote that she would be moving into a different role: “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a newly created Western Hemisphere security initiative that will be announced on Saturday.
As Homeland Security Secretary, Noem had become the face of the Trump administration’s controversial and deadly immigration enforcement ramp-up, including the deployment of ICE and CBP agents in US cities primarily in Democratic-led states. Noem was widely criticized for her response to the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, when she made comments falsely linking the victims to domestic terrorism.
Earlier this week, Noem sat for a tense hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where senators from both parties questioned her on DHS’s enforcement approach, including allegations that the agency has detained US citizens and mistreated detainees in custody. Noem has also faced scrutiny over a $220 million DHS ad campaign for which she reportedly awarded the contract to a company run by the husband of her chief spokesperson. President Trump was angry about her performance in the hearings, especially her claim that he’d been aware of the ad campaign.
Mullin will take over Noem’s former position on March 31. Mullin is a staunch supporter of the president, and has previously supported his false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election. He became the junior senator from Oklahoma in 2023 after serving for ten years in the House.
Tariff Refunds
A US trade court judge ordered the Trump administration to begin paying refunds to importers who paid the tariffs struck down by the US Supreme Court last month.
President Trump had imposed the tariffs under a federal law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which gives presidents the ability to regulate imports during national emergencies. Up until the Trump administration, the IEEPA was never used to impose tariffs. After several groups sued to challenge the tariffs, the Supreme Court ruled that the IEEPA did not give the president the authority to levy them. The Supreme Court decision left open the question of whether the government would have to refund the tariffs that had already been collected.
Court of International Trade Judge Richard Eaton has now ordered US Customs to remove the tariffs from pending imports where companies have already paid them. “We want to work out a method by which those importers can make a claim for duties which were unlawfully applied,” Eaton said during a hearing on Wednesday. Hundreds of billions of dollars could be returned to importers, with interest.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision.
Minnesota Fraud Hearing
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison testified in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday about their handling of a social services fraud scandal in the state.
The federal government sends states funding for certain social services, including childcare, meals, and medical care for low-income families. States can then supplement that funding, and pay providers to subsidize services. A 2019 investigation in Minnesota uncovered fraud amounting to several million dollars, finding that some childcare centers were billing for children they weren’t actually serving. A 2025 federal government report found that improper child care payments continued to be a problem, and investigations also found other forms of social services fraud in the state, including schemes involving Medicaid and meals for needy families.
The federal government has convicted 66 people in connection with Minnesota social services fraud and the issue has since become a political lightning rod, with President Trump specifically calling out Somali-Americans in Minneapolis as fraudsters in his State of the Union address last month.
Before the hearing, the Republican-led committee released an interim report on the issue, which stated that Walz and Ellison “were aware of widespread fraud in federally funded social services programs for years, possessed the legal and procedural authority to stop payments, but repeatedly failed to act.”
At the hearing, Republicans accused Walz and Ellison of ignoring warning signs about fraud, while Democrats suggested the Trump administration was using the scandal as a pretext to ramp up immigration enforcement in Democratic-led states.
Walz defended his administration. “Although Minnesota’s programs have overwhelmingly achieved their intended purpose, they’re not immune from fraud,” he said in his opening statement. “I’ll be the first to acknowledge that. But let me be clear: In Minnesota, if you defraud public programs, if you steal taxpayer money, we’ll find you, we’ll prosecute you, we’ll convict you and we’ll throw you in jail.” Walz also said President Trump is “politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans.”
Senator Drops Out at Last Minute
Montana Sen. Steve Daines announced yesterday that he will not seek reelection, unexpectedly pulling his bid minutes before the filing deadline. He had kept his decision so close to the vest that even his Senate colleagues weren’t aware it was coming.
Minutes after Daines dropped out, and just before the 5 p.m. MT deadline, US Attorney Kurt Alme filed to run. Donald Trump endorsed Alme right after he jumped into the race, as did Daines.
Daines is a close ally to President Trump, and likely would have easily won reelection.
Seth Bodnar, who is running as an Independent in the race, said Daines’s timing was meant to prevent other candidates from entering the race, saying, “he withdrew at the last minute to coronate his handpicked successor instead of giving [Montana Republicans] a voice at the ballot box.”
Daines said he had been “wrestling with the decision for months” and that he thought new leaders should get a chance to fight for Montana in the Senate.
Rep. Gonzales Admits to Affair
After weeks of denying it, Congressman Tony Gonzales admitted to having an affair with a staff member, saying, “I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions.”
Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, a former aide to Gonzales, died by suicide last September after setting herself on fire at her home. Her husband recently released text messages between Santos-Aviles and Gonzales that detail a physical relationship between the two.
Republicans and Democrats have called for Gonzales to step down, but he has refused. He will face a runoff election in May after failing to get more than 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s Texas primary.
His admission came hours after the House Ethics Committee said it was opening an investigation over the allegations. The probe was opened after investigators from the Office of Congressional Conduct found “substantial reason to believe” Gonzales had a sexual relationship with the staffer.
The Ethics Committee will also look into whether or not Gonzales gave Santos-Aviles any special treatment, which he said never happened.
Senator Involved in Altercation
Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy joined police yesterday in forcibly removing a protester from a hearing. The altercation, which was caught on video, showed Sheehy grabbing the man’s leg and pulling, while three officers struggled with him.
In the video, you can see Brian McGinnis’s hand between the door and the wall, and people are yelling that Sen. Sheehy “broke his hand.”
McGinnis, who was in a Marine uniform, was charged with three counts of assault on a police officer and resisting arrest and one count of crowding, because he blocked the doorway. He’s a Green Party candidate running for US Senate from North Carolina.
He says his arm was broken during the incident.
Sheehy said later he stepped in to help remove the “unhinged” protester and “deescalate” the situation. He also said the man got the confrontation he was looking for when coming to the Capitol.
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