[Up First] US-Iran War Escalates, Congress To-Do List, UK Has A New Prime Minister

A third U.S. service member has been killed since Friday, bringing total American military deaths to 17 and the wounded to 430 since the war began on February 28. The latest fatality occurred during a controlled detonation

of an Iranian drone in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where something appears to have gone wrong. Human remains were also found at a base in Jordan, where two personnel had already been killed Friday. Iran claims at least 3,000 of its citizens — many of them civilians — have been killed, with nearly 27,000 wounded.

The U.S. has bombed Iran for nine straight nights,

targeting infrastructure including bridges and electrical installations. Iran has retaliated by striking power grids and water desalination plants in Kuwait and hitting targets in Bahrain. Iran also says it disabled two oil tankers attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, vowing that not a drop of oil will pass through

while U.S. attacks continue. Oil prices rose again as a result.

Jordan, a U.S. security partner with a peace treaty with Israel, has a significant American military presence on its soil. Though Jordan denied any imminent threat, Iran struck an airport compound there on Sunday, targeting U.S. positions. There were no reported casualties and the airport resumed normal operations.

House Republicans have just one week before the August recess, and Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing an ambitious agenda: additional defense funding through a reconciliation bill,

a stock trading ban for lawmakers, a voter ID requirement bill, and a continuing resolution to fund the government past the November election. All of this must be managed with a razor-thin two-vote margin in the House.

The political backdrop is difficult. Gas prices have climbed above $4 a gallon, and polling consistently shows that the cost of living is voters’ top concern — yet none of the items on Johnson’s immediate list directly address affordability. Roughly a dozen Republicans are uneasy about casting votes for expanded war spending with no new offsets, especially with political headwinds

already blowing against the party ahead of the midterms.

The combined stock trading and voter ID bill could narrowly pass the House, but faces an insurmountable obstacle in the Senate, where 60 votes are required. Critics of the stock trading provision note that it allows members to retain existing holdings, leaving open the possibility that lawmakers might still vote in their own financial interests. On government funding, some Republicans may try to extract concessions

before agreeing to keep the government open.

The United Kingdom has a new prime minister: Andy Burnham, former Mayor of Greater Manchester, has replaced Keir Starmer, making him the country’s seventh leader in just ten years. Starmer was pushed out of office

despite both leaders belonging to the same Labour Party, highlighting deep internal divisions over policy and direction.

Burnham declared himself ready for the role, and the transition raises immediate questions about whether his government will chart a meaningfully different course. Both leaders come from the Labour Party, but Burnham has long cultivated a more populist

image rooted in the north of England, positioning himself as a champion of communities left behind by London-centric policymaking.

The rapid turnover in British leadership — seven prime ministers in a decade — reflects persistent instability within both major parties and voter frustration with a political establishment struggling to address economic stagnation and public service decline. Whether Burnham can consolidate Labour support and offer a distinct vision remains the central question of his early tenure.