| | | |  | | By Irie Sentner | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Makayla Gray
|  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon. | Alex Wong/Getty Images | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forecasted this morning that today would be the “most intense day of strikes” in Iran as President Donald Trump continues to waffle on the length and scale of the war. That warning came as the Senate Armed Services Committee held a classified briefing on the military operation, while lawmakers from both parties push for more details about the war they were not asked to authorize. After the briefing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters the closed-door meeting left him “as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate.” He added that he “left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war.” The Pentagon estimates that the first two days of the war, which today reached its 11th, cost $5.6 billion in munitions alone, WaPo’s Noah Robertson reported. The total cost will only rise, and the administration is expected to ask lawmakers for additional funds in the coming days.
| | | | POLITICO Policy Outlook: Powering 6G The next generation of mobile communications technology — commonly known as 6G — promises to unlock a bold new digital future. On Wednesday, March 18, POLITICO will convene decision makers from government and industry for incisive conversations that explore what’s next for the 6G rollout — and what stands in the way. Register now to join us. | | | | | House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill today that he would not support spending cuts to offset those costs. The Pentagon was already funded this year at $838 billion through an appropriations package passed in February, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act heaped on an additional $150 billion. Of course, the total costs of war go well beyond mere munitions. The State Department today announced more than 40,000 Americans have fled the Middle East during the conflict, 27,000 of whom were directly assisted by the department, which has chartered more than two dozen flights. Those extractions come as DHS remains shut down, as TSA agents work without pay. And spiking gas prices continue to roil voters nationwide, a major liability for the White House trying to sell its affordability agenda in a midterm year. Happening soon: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is set to hold a briefing at 2 p.m., where you can expect more updates on the war. Now read this: “An Iraq veteran voted for peace. Her teen starts basic training in wartime,” by WaPo’s Danielle Paquette: “Fifteen years after returning from a so-called forever war, Emm [Matous] was still recovering. Yet unlike the cable pundits and TikTok streamers, words didn’t come so easily for her.” Good Tuesday afternoon. This is Irie Sentner, exuberant to feel the sun on my face and suggesting you read this newsletter from a park. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at isentner@politico.com.
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Learn more. | | | | | | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. THE SPEAKER SIDESTEP: “Mike Johnson declines to condemn Republicans’ anti-Muslim remarks,” by POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill: “Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he has discussed ‘our tone and our message’ with the two House Republicans who have made anti-Muslim remarks in recent days but defended the right of the lawmakers to oppose ‘the imposition of Sharia law.’ … Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) posted on social media Monday that ‘Muslims don’t belong in American society.’ … Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) wrote in a post on X last month that ‘If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.’ … Neither Ogles nor Fine differentiated between the Muslim faith and Sharia law.” 2. WALKBACK: The FDA said that it could not support the use of the generic drug leucovorin for treating children with autism, backing away from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims that the drug could be used in such a manner, POLITICO’s Carmen Paun reports. Back in September, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the drug would help “hundreds of thousands” of children and touted a study that he said had shown “two-thirds of kids with autism symptoms had improvement and some marked improvement.” But the agency today approved the drug not for autism but for a form of cerebral folate deficiency that is a hallmark of an ultra-rare disease. 3. FOLLOW THE MONEY: “The White House’s Financial Disclosures for Top Officials Are Incomplete,” by NOTUS’ Anna Kramer and Dave Levinthal: “Months after posting disclosures on the White House website, the Trump administration does not appear to have sent the financial information for some top White House officials to the Office of Government Ethics for a second and often more serious review.” NOTUS found at least five top officials whose disclosures are incomplete, including border czar Tom Homan and House of Representatives liaison Jeffrey Freeland. A White House official told NOTUS reports are still being put together, noting a lengthy process that can take weeks or months. “Nothing is being withheld,” they said. 4. HAPPENING TODAY: “Trump Antisemitism Inquiry Demanding List of Jews at Penn Heads to Court,” by NYT’s Alan Blinder and Michael Bender: “The government has argued it was investigating harassment and other potential episodes of antisemitism on campus, including some related to campus protests over the war in Gaza. But the request upset many Jewish faculty and students, and Penn has refused to comply, calling the Trump administration’s demands unconstitutional and ‘disconcerting.’ Some say the campaign to force the university to give information about Jewish people makes them feel less safe, in part because it recalls the methods of Nazi-era Germany.”
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| | | | 5. PRESSURE POINT: The DNC today sued the Trump administration for failing to respond to nearly a dozen FOIA requests for information about whether the president will send armed officers to election sites this year, NYT’s Nick Corasaniti reports. “It is possible that no such records exist within the Trump administration; the lawsuit is simply accusing the agencies of failing to respond to the information requests. There are no current reported plans for the administration to use armed agents or troops in the upcoming elections.” 6. CRACKING CFPB: “Credit Bureaus Are Leaving More Mistakes on Frustrated Consumers’ Reports Under Trump’s CFPB,” by ProPublica’s Joel Jacobs: “With the agency weakened … TransUnion and Experian, have sharply reduced the share of consumer complaints they resolved in customers’ favor, according to a ProPublica analysis of federal complaint data. … The timing of the drops at TransUnion and Experian coincides with the Trump administration’s dismantling of the CFPB. … In statements to ProPublica, the credit bureaus said that many complaints are illegitimate, including a large volume filed by credit repair organizations that charge customers to challenge negative information on their reports.” 7. COREY IN THE DOGHOUSE: Trump in recent days has questioned his top aides “several times” about whether Corey Lewandowski, his former campaign manager and DHS senior adviser, had personally profited from the department’s $220 million ad campaign and has become suspicious about Lewandowski’s role in approving government contracts, NBC’s Julia Ainsley and colleagues report. Trump last week ousted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from the department following her testimony about the campaign before Congress. Asked if he ever received “any money from any of the contracts” he signed off on, Lewandowski told NBC in an interview, “zero, not one penny.” 8. NOTE FOR TEACHER: Senior DOJ attorney Ed Martin is facing ethics charges from the D.C. Court of Appeals' Board on Professional Responsibility, accusing him of misconduct for sending a letter to Georgetown Law School in seeking punishment for teaching DEI practices, NYT’s Devlin Barrett reports. “In filings … dated Friday and made public on Tuesday, Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton ‘Phil’ Fox III of the D.C. Bar alleged that Martin's conduct as a government official violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by making demands that the law school change what it teaches students and how it teaches them, CBS’ Sarah Lynch writes.
| | | | Sponsored Survey WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Please take a 1-minute survey about one of our advertising partners. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | INJURY REPORT — RFK Jr. is having rotator cuff surgery today, NYT’s Karoun Demirjian reports. An HHS spokesperson did not respond to NYT’s request “as to whether Mr. Kennedy’s injury was caused by the intense workouts he has promoted since taking the helm of the agency.” TRUMP HOTEL HORROR STORY — “Trump’s Chicago Hotel Restaurants Failed Health Inspections,” by NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno: “The health inspector found wastewater flooding the floor of the main kitchen when three of the prep sinks drained, according to Chicago Department of Public Health records [from December 2025]. A dishwasher was also not properly sanitizing dishes and utensils. … Meanwhile, the inspector observed ‘small flies’ throughout a rooftop restaurant’s bar and dish area, as well as a cracked lid on the ice machine and debris buildup inside the prep cooler and on the floor beneath sinks.” MEDIA MOVES — Jamie Stockwell today was named USA Today’s next top editor, the third person elevated to the role at the country’s largest newspaper publisher in three years, NYT’s Katie Robertson reports. Stockwell will hold the title of VP of news, rather than editor in chief. She most recently was a deputy managing editor at WaPo and was laid off last month as part of the paper’s sweeping cuts. TRANSITIONS — Amy Vruno is joining DC Vote as executive director. She most recently worked at Invest in Our Future. … J.J. Jones has joined Rubenstein as a partner. She most recently was assistant general counsel for cybersecurity at Microsoft. NUPTIALS — Nate Evans, a senior VP at HELLER and Amy Klobuchar and Biden White House alum, and Alec Miller, the head of legal at Turnkey, got married Saturday in Brooklyn. SPOTTED: Klobuchar and John Bessler, Risa Heller, Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, Phil Rucker and Josh Humphries, Evan Hollander and Eli Yokley, Michael Ahrens, Jeremy Peters, Jeff Zeleny and Dom Maione, Ned Price, David McCabe, Jeff Prescott, Galen Druke, Christopher Nulty, Kirsten Allen, Ian Sams, James Adams, Kate Waters, Miryam Lipper, Jane Meyer, Teddy Goff and Christopher Jerrolds, Rachel Levitan, Kevin Donohoe, Alex Levy, Nora Walsh-Devries, Danielle Melfi, Malcolm Fouhy, Jesse Rodriguez, Carly Holden, Gwen Rocco and Pav Abraham. BIRTHWEEK (was Sunday): Davey Roberts of Trident GMG Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross.
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