Surprise!

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for March 19, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Iran says it successfully struck its first U.S. aircraft of the war. An American F-35 made an emergency landing after the incident and the pilot appeared to be uninjured.

• What the president said just before the news broke: “Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their antiaircraft equipment is gone. We’re flying wherever we want, we have nobody even shooting at us.”
  

Changing narratives on Israel’s strikes in Iran: Last night, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. “knew nothing” about an Israeli attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field, saying that our ally had “lashed out.” But in remarks to reporters at the White House today, Trump said that he cautioned Israeli officials against the attack beforehand.

“We’re independent. We get along great. It’s coordinated,” the president said.

‘It takes money to kill bad guys.’ That’s what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this morning, confirming reports that the Pentagon plans to ask for upward of $200 billion from Congress to fund the war with Iran. Trump also confirmed the number, calling it “a small price to pay to make sure that we stay tippy-top.”

• Cracks are already forming in the Republican coalition over the request. Rep. Lauren Boebert told CNN, “I am a no.” Rep. Chip Roy said the administration has “a whole lot more briefing and a whole lot more explaining to do” before he signs on. And, of course, Rep. Thomas Massie and moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski are skeptical as well.

THE HILL

House Republicans turn on John Thune. It’s a time-honored tradition for members of the lower chamber to lob spitballs at their party’s upper chamber leadership — this time, it’s over the Senate’s reluctance to pass the SAVE America Act. “It’s time for Thune to grow a set of balls,” Rep. Andy Ogles told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman, who spoke with a number of other dissatisfied House Republicans.

Graham Platner nabs a big endorsement: Elizabeth Warren. The Massachusetts progressive’s decision goes against what Democratic leadership wants: Gov. Janet Mills, who is challenging Platner for the Democratic Senate nomination in Maine.

John Fetterman cast the deciding vote to advance Markwayne Mullin’s nomination. Trump’s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security was narrowly approved by the Senate Homeland Security Committee after the panel’s chair, Rand Paul, voted against his Republican colleague. Mullin’s nomination is now slated to get a vote in front of the full chamber, which could happen as soon as next week.

A bipartisan group of senators met with Tom Homan to discuss DHS funding. Attendees reported progress, but no breakthroughs. “Democrats’ demands keep growing, and that makes it difficult, but we’re operating in a good way,” Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins told reporters. “I hope we’ll get something together.”

THE ADMINISTRATION

Trump cracked a Pearl Harbor joke during a meeting with the Japanese prime minister. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” the president said in the Oval Office in full view of the press corps, explicitly mentioning the 1941 attack. “You believe in surprise, I think, much more than us.”

To ease spiking oil prices, the Trump administration is eyeing an unusual move: removing sanctions on more than a million barrels of Iranian oil. “In essence, we will be using Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox Business this morning.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says small airports could shut down soon. The situation is a result of the ongoing shutdown at DHS, which since Sunday has led to roughly 10% of TSA workers not showing up for work.

James Comey was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in Miami. The order is part of a DOJ investigation into Obama-era officials who investigated Trump. A previous case against Comey in Virginia fell apart and was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge.

PLEASE HOLD!

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kate Nocera and Andrew Burton. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.