Posted by Matt Kiser
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2026/03/10/day-1876/
Today in one sentence: Seven U.S. service members have been killed and 140 troops have been wounded in the first 10 days of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran; Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted – and then deleted – that the U.S. Navy had “successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz,” sending oil prices down nearly 20%; U.S. military destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as Trump warned Tehran to remove any mines “IMMEDIATELY” or face military consequences “at a level never seen before”; the Trump administration told Israel to stop striking Iranian energy infrastructure, saying it was “not happy”; House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to condemn anti-Muslim remarks by Reps. Andy Ogles and Randy Fine, saying instead that he had spoken to them about “our tone and our message”; Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the Supreme Court’s use of emergency orders is “not serving the court or our country well”; a federal judge ruled that three Justice Department lawyers jointly leading the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office were unlawfully appointed; and a whistleblower complaint alleges that a former DOGE engineer copied two Social Security databases that contain records for more than 500 million Americans and took them to his new job at a government contractor.
1/ Seven U.S. service members have been killed and 140 troops have been wounded in the first 10 days of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, promised the “most intense day of strikes” yet and that the U.S. “will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated” After a classified Senate briefing, Democrats said the Trump administration doesn’t have a clear objective, timeline, or exit strategy. “Clearly, they do not have a strategic goal,” Sen. Mark Kelly said. “They have no exit strategy.” The White House, nevertheless, insisted that the operation was a “resounding success” and would end only when Iran no longer posed a credible threat. (New York Times / ABC News / The Guardian / Associated Press / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Bloomberg)
- Russia denied sharing intelligence with Iran about the locations of U.S. military assets in the Middle East. In calls with Trump and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, Putin and other Russian officials denied reports that Moscow had given Iran targeting information on U.S. assets in the region. “We can take them at their word,” Witkoff said. “Let’s hope that they’re not sharing.” (Reuters / CNBC)
2/ Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted – and then deleted – that the U.S. Navy had “successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz,” sending oil prices down nearly 20%. However, the White House said the claim was false and that “the U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or vessel at this time.” The Energy Department later said the post was deleted after it was “determined to be incorrectly captioned by Department of Energy staff.” (Bloomberg / Politico / Wall Street Journal / CNBC / New York Times)
3/ The U.S. military destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as Trump warned Tehran to remove any mines “IMMEDIATELY” or face military consequences “at a level never seen before.” The strikes came after intelligence reports indicated Iran had begun laying mines in the strait where roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supply flows. Trump, however, said the U.S. had “no reports” confirming that Iran had actually put mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Almost all commercial shipping through the strait has stopped since the war began Feb. 28. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / Reuters)
4/ The Trump administration told Israel to stop striking Iranian energy infrastructure, saying it was “not happy.” The warning follows Israel striking several oil depots in and around Tehran over the weekend. U.S. officials said the administration was concerned the attacks could hurt Iranian civilians, raise the risk of retaliation against Gulf energy facilities, and destabilize oil markets. (Axios / Reuters / Wall Street Journal)
5/ House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to condemn anti-Muslim remarks by Reps. Andy Ogles and Randy Fine, saying instead that he had spoken to them about “our tone and our message.” Ogles had posted that “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” while Fine wrote that choosing “between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” Johnson said the “conflict” was not with Muslims but with people who “come to a country and not assimilate” and seek to “impose Sharia law” in ways “in direct conflict with the Constitution.” (Politico / The Hill / The Guardian / Axios / Washington Post / NPR / NBC News)
6/ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the Supreme Court’s use of emergency orders is “not serving the court or our country well.” She called the trend of letting Trump administration policies take effect before lower courts finish testing whether they are lawful “a real unfortunate problem” and that the court had moved beyond preserving the status quo. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, meanwhile, argued the increase in emergency appeals reflects presidents relying more on executive action because Congress is gridlocked. (CNN / New York Times / NBC News / Associated Press / Washington Post)
7/ A federal judge ruled that three Justice Department lawyers jointly leading the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office were unlawfully appointed – the second time in less than a year that the court has disqualified Trump’s picks to lead the office. After a federal appeals court disqualified Alina Habba as the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann found that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s decision to split the role between Philip Lamparello, Jordan Fox, and Ari Fontecchio had violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the Appointments Clause, and the statute governing U.S. attorney duties. Brann stayed his ruling pending appeal, but warned that if the government left the trio in place, “it does so at its own risk,” and that any further unlawful appointments “will result in dismissals of pending cases.” (Associated Press / CBS News / New York Times / Bloomberg / Politico / Washington Post)
- The D.C. Bar filed ethics charges against Trump’s pardon attorney, accusing Ed Martin of using his position as interim U.S. attorney to coerce Georgetown University Law Center into abandoning its DEI programs. Martin allegedly threatened to freeze all student hirings from Georgetown and later warned that the school’s DEI practices could jeopardize its nonprofit status and nearly $1 billion in federal funding. (New York Times / Politico / CNN)
The 2026 midterms are in 238 days; the 2028 presidential election is in 973 days.
✏️ Notables.
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Smartmatic asked a federal judge to dismiss foreign bribery and money-laundering charges, arguing the October indictment was a vindictive, selective prosecution tied to Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged. The company said the Trump administration brought the case in retaliation for defamation suits against Trump allies and Fox News over false claims about the company’s role in the 2020 vote. (New York Times / Washington Post)
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House Republican leaders said Tuesday they plan to bring an 18-month extension of Section 702 surveillance authority. The plan would renew the warrantless foreign surveillance program without the new restrictions. (Politico)
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The White House told House Republicans to stop talking about “mass deportations” and instead focus on removing violent criminals. (Axios / Washington Post)
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The Pentagon spent $93 billion in September 2025 — more than any single month since 2008. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pledged to refocus the department on “warfighting and lethality,” the purchases in September included $225 million in furniture, $15.1 million in ribeye steak, $6.9 million in lobster tail, $2 million in Alaskan king crab, $5.3 million in Apple devices, and a $98,329 Steinway grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home. In the final five days of September, the department signed $50.1 billion in grants and contracts, more than the combined annual defense budgets of Canada and Mexico. Federal agencies that don’t use their congressionally allocated budgets by the end of the fiscal year lose that money permanently. (New Republic)
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A whistleblower complaint alleges that a former DOGE engineer copied two Social Security databases that contain records for more than 500 million Americans and took them to his new job at a government contractor. The complaint, filed in January, alleges the engineer told co-workers he needed help “sanitizing” the data before uploading it to his employer’s systems. He reportedly told one colleague who refused to help that he expected a presidential pardon if his actions were deemed illegal. The two databases, called “Numident” and the “Master Death File,” include the records for more than 500 million living and dead Americans, including Social Security numbers, places and dates of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, and parents’ names. (Washington Post)
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The Marshall Project gets a new managing editor. Reem Akkad, formerly a top editor at The Washington Post, has been named managing editor of The Marshall Project. “I couldn’t be happier to welcome Reem to the team to serve as my partner in overseeing a newsroom dedicated to high-impact investigative work focused on inequities within the justice system,” said Jennifer Peter, editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project. “Reem brings the perfect mix of investigative rigor and journalistic innovation to help lead this enterprise.” 
