Tuesday’s Mini-Report, 7.21.26
Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Pete Hegseth’s new price tag for the war is still understating matters: “In response to a question from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Hegseth said the Iran war has cost the U.S. an estimated $37.5 billion. That estimate reflects anticipated costs through the end of September, Hegseth said. That’s more than $8 billion more than the Pentagon’s top budget official told Congress the war cost back in May.”
* No one will benefit from this: “President Donald Trump signed three proclamations imposing an additional 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods, the White House announced on Monday. … The new tariffs will apply to all covered Canadian goods regardless of whether they qualify for duty-free treatment under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.”
* It’s a safe bet that this move will generate some important litigation: “The Trump administration on Tuesday paused more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota, which Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said would not be reversed until the Democratic-led states ‘demonstrate that every dollar meets federal requirements.’”
* Speaking of lawsuits worth watching: “The U.S. attorney in Washington state who was fired just 54 minutes after assuming the office has filed a lawsuit challenging his removal, signaling the first legal challenge to the termination of this kind.”
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Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
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