The Latest: House votes for a third time to end the Iran war as conflict drags on

For a third time, the U.S. House has voted to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would halt President Donald Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval. The roll call was similar to earlier efforts this summer. None of the resolutions have made it to the president’s desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto the measure.

The Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board voted Tuesday to close most of the iconic performing arts venue just hours after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.

And Trump will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to rally with Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley as the former national party chairman tries to shore up his campaign against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.

Here’s the Latest:

$177B in grants cut or frozen by Trump admin, new analysis shows

President Donald Trump’s administration has cut or frozen roughly $177 billion in federal grants since his return to the White House in 2025, according to a new tracking tool released Wednesday by a pro-democracy nonprofit and a group of researchers and scientists.

The cuts affected all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with health, nutrition, the environment and disaster relief making up the largest share of cuts, the States United Democracy Center and Grant Witness organization found.

A message seeking comment was sent to the White House.

Two GOP lawmakers from battleground Iowa join in vote to halt Iran war

Four Republicans had previously voted in the House to halt the Iran war, but that number rose to seven during the latest war powers resolution vote.

GOP lawmakers from battleground Iowa, Rep. Zachary Nunn and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and retiring Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, joined GOP Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky in voting for the war powers resolution.

All Democrats also voted for the resolution to bring an end to the Iran war.

Trump to rally in North Carolina with his handpicked Senate nominee Michael Whatley

Trump will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to rally with Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley as the former national party chairman tries to shore up his campaign against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.

It’s the first campaign rally for Trump since his unusual midterm convention in Dallas. The president, despite voter frustrations over the Iran war and his economic leadership, has promised dozens more trips ahead of Election Day. Trump’s involvement creates a balancing act for Republicans like Whatley, who will depend on the president’s core supporters to turn out while also trying to appeal to moderates and disaffected conservatives unhappy with the direction of the country.

Whatley was the president’s pick for the Senate race and Trump’s pick to lead the Republican National Committee before that. Republicans viewed him as a strong recruit to hold the seat being left open by Sen. Thom Tillis, who decided to retire after clashing with the president last year. But Whatley, who is making his first bid for public office, has trailed Cooper in fundraising in recent months and polling from over the summer showed Cooper with at least a slight lead.

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FBI chief Kash Patel defends hiring policy changes on bestiality at fiery hearing

FBI Director Kash Patel defended Tuesday a recent policy change to allow some applicants who have engaged in prostitution and bestiality to be considered for employment, insisting that the move was made to enable victims of those acts to apply for a job without fear of automatic disqualification.

The subject arose during a fiery Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Patel clashed with Democrats over his firing of agents who participated in investigations of Trump and suggested that agents might be dispatched to the polls on Election Day amid Justice Department and White House concerns about voter fraud.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau is fulfilling its key mission — keeping Americans safe.

The hours-long hearing featured the name-calling and bitingly personal exchanges that have come to define Patel’s appearances on Capitol Hill, with Democrats characterizing the Trump appointee as unqualified, criticizing him for politically charged investigations into Trump’s enemies and highlighting travel that has included a trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy in which he partied with U.S. hockey players and a snorkeling excursion at the Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii.

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Kennedy Center closing for renovations after judge forbids Trump’s name on building

The Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board voted Tuesday to close most of the iconic performing arts venue just hours after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.

In a social media post, Trump said the closure was needed for safety repairs. But he said the repairs, which Congress has allocated $257 million to cover, would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building. A federal judge has twice said that can’t happen without the approval of Congress.

“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said in the latest ruling Tuesday.

The Justice Department appealed the ruling. Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on the board, participated in the virtual board meeting and said on social media he’d given $17 million to an endowment intended to support the institution.

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House votes for a third time to end the Iran war as conflict drags on

For a third time, the U.S. House has voted to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would halt President Donald Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval.

The roll call late Tuesday, 220-204, was similar to earlier efforts this summer, with a few more Republicans joining all Democrats voting to bring an end to the conflict. None of the resolutions have made it to the president’s desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto the measure.

The action is likely the last House vote on the Iran war ahead of the midterm elections, where the conflict overseas is playing a substantial role in the political campaigns. The war that Trump launched Feb. 28 has dragged, with on-again, off-again deadly missile strikes being exchanged and causing havoc in the region for nearly seven months.

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