Friday morning news: March 6, 2026

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Iran war update » The U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, known in the U.S. as Operation Epic Fury, have intensified. Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper:

COOPER: America’s bomber force has struck nearly 200 targets deep inside of Iran, including Tehran… U.S. B-2 bombers dropped dozens of 2,000-pound penetrator bombs targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers.

Cooper also says Iran’s Navy is decimated, claiming the U.S. has destroyed 30 of its ships, including a massive warship the size of a World War II aircraft carrier.

And Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth says firepower over Tehran is about to surge dramatically.

HEGSETH: Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation… We have only just begun to fight, and fight decisively.

President Trump says the operation in Iran is achieving its goals ahead of schedule.

TRUMP: We’re destroying more of Iran’s missiles and drone capability every single hour, knocking them out like nobody thought was possible.

Iran and its proxies are continuing retaliatory attacks on Israel, American bases, and countries all across the Middle East. So far, the conflict has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people in Iran, a dozen more in Israel, and at least six U.S. troops.

President Trump says Iran’s interim leadership wants to make a deal to end the military action -which Iranian officials deny- and also says he needs to be involved in picking Iran’s new leader.

House vote on war powers » Meantime, on Capitol Hill, Republicans have fended off efforts to rein in Operation Epic Fury.

AUDIO: On this vote, the yeas are 212, the nays are 219. The concurrent resolution is not adopted.

The House GOP Thursday narrowly rejected a War Powers resolution that would’ve limited the Trump administration’s ability to conduct the military operation in Iran.

Two Republicans -Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio- broke with their party in support of the measure, while four Democrats opposed it.

The House vote came a day after the Senate voted down a similar measure.

SOUND: [Bombing]

Israeli strikes in Lebanon » That’s the sound of Israel carrying out a fresh wave of airstrikes targeting the southern suburbs of Beirut, along with areas of southern and eastern Lebanon, late Thursday and early this morning.

Israel says the attacks are targeting command centers and weapons storage areas of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group that’s launched fresh attacks on Israel amid Epic Fury.

Israel’s army had warned people in the densely populated areas to evacuate ahead of time… leading to traffic jams before the strikes.

No word on casualties so far. Prior to today, more than 100 people in Lebanon had died in fighting over the past week.

Trump replaces Noem at DHS » Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is out. After months of rising criticism, President Trump fired the head of DHS Thursday. And, as WORLD’s Harrison Watters reports, he also named the nominee to replace her.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more.

HARRISON WATTERS: The bridge too far came on Tuesday, when Noem testified under oath that President Trump preauthorized $220 million in advertising spending.

KENNEDY: Did the President know you were going to do this?
NOEM: Yes.
KENNEDY: He did?
NOEM: Yes.

WATTERS: President Trump later refuted that claim. Noem has also faced complaints for heavy-handed management. Trump said on Truth Social that Noem would move to a newly created security advisor position.

In her place, Trump is nominating Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin … a rancher, retired mixed martial arts fighter, and member of the Cherokee Nation. He told reporters on Thursday:

MULLIN: I'm here to enforce the policies that Congress passed. And right now, I'm part of it. But once I make that transition, my focus is to keep the homeland secure.

WATTERS: President Trump wants Mullin in his new role by the end of March, so the Senator will soon face his colleagues for a confirmation vote.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters.

Congress Thursday vote on DHS funding » Republican efforts to pass a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security have failed again.

Though the House did pass a DHS funding bill Thursday, the Senate fell nine votes short of the 60 it needed to achieve cloture, a procedural move needed to advance the bill.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries laid out the conditions he says GOP leaders need to meet for Democrats to negotiate a compromise.

JEFFRIES: If they are prepared to make sure that ICE conducts itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country and stops brutalizing and killing American citizens and law abiding immigrant families.

The DHS funding cutoff started February 14th. Democrats are holding up the money because they want restraints on immigration enforcement tactics after two encounters between agents and protesters in Minnesota turned fatal in January.

Republicans say passing the funding is urgent in light of the military operation in Iran, saying Democrats will bear responsibility if there’s a lone wolf terrorist or cyberattack in the U.S.

USPS could be out of cash in less than a year » In less than a year, the U.S. Postal Service won’t be able to pay employees or vendors: That was the warning Thursday from Postmaster General David Steiner.

He’s asking Congress to let the U.S.P.S. exceed its $15 billion dollar borrowing cap. That cap has been in place since 1990.

Later this month, the postmaster general will go before Congress to advocate for lifting that cap, along with other rules he considers burdensome. He says raising the borrowing limit will buy the Postal Service time to make needed changes.

Last year, the Postal Service’s net losses were about $9 billion dollars.

I'm Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday. The Supreme Court sides with parents on a major cultural issue. Is it a course correction? And later: Wordplay with George Grant. You really have to be there -emphasis on there- for this one. 

This is The World and Everything in It.

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