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Every Single GOP Senator Blocks Iran War Powers Resolution—Except One

23 0
04.03.2026

Every Single GOP Senator Blocks Iran War Powers Resolution—Except One

Congress’s first attempt to put appreciable limits on Trump’s incoherent military campaign comes up empty.

On Wednesday, the Senate refused to block President Donald Trump from using further military force on Iran, as a war powers resolution failed by a vote of 52–48.

Senator John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against the resolution. Senator Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote for the resolution. This was Congress’s first vote on the war.

The news came on the fifth day of a joint U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign on Iran. Prior to the vote, Trump ranted about Chinese windmills during a press conference and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. bombed Iran due to a “feeling” Trump had about an imminent attack.

Noem Flails When Asked if She Had “Sexual Relations” With DHS Adviser

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked point-blank about whether she’s sleeping with Corey Lewandowski.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem got hot under the collar when asked if she was sleeping with one of her employees.

Corey Lewandowski’s official title at DHS is that of an unpaid, temporary “special government employee,” but for years, the rumor around Washington has been that he’s also Noem’s paramour. Multiple sources told New York magazine’s Ben Terris last year that the two have a romantic relationship. Noem was spotted on Lewandowski’s lap during one conservative conference in 2019; a FEMA official later told Terris their entanglement was the “worst-kept secret in D.C.”

In a House Judiciary hearing Wednesday, California Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove asked Noem if she has had sexual relations with Lewandowski during her time at DHS.

Noem reacted with indignation. “I’m shocked we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this hearing,” she said, before proceeding to talk over Kamlager-Dove while the representative tried to reclaim her time.

“You should be able to answer … if someone is asking if you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate.… You should be wanting to answer that question,” Kamlager-Dove said.

“It’s garbage,” Noem shot back. “It’s offensive.”

KAMLAGER-DOVE: At any point in your tenure at DHS, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski? NOEM: I'm surprised we're peddling tabloid garbage in this hearingKAMLAGER-DOVE: You should be able to answer if someone asks if you or any federal official is sleeping… pic.twitter.com/q6CQoVTVtb— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 4, 2026

KAMLAGER-DOVE: At any point in your tenure at DHS, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski? NOEM: I'm surprised we're peddling tabloid garbage in this hearingKAMLAGER-DOVE: You should be able to answer if someone asks if you or any federal official is sleeping… pic.twitter.com/q6CQoVTVtb

With the help of Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, Kamlager-Dove reclaimed her time.

“It’s about your judgment and decision-making,” Kamlager-Dove said. “It’s about the 260,000 employees that work under you that want to make sure that you are giving information and making decisions clearly. It is about conflict of interest. It is about a national security risk.”

That Noem sleeping with an employee could present a national security risk may sound silly, but Lewandowski has already been handed inexplicable access to the department. Axios determined that Lewandowski has been present at DHS headquarters for far longer than his temporary contract permitted as a special government employee, while Politico reported that he has had oversight over six-figure DHS contracts in his role. Former DHS employee Cameron Hamilton told Terris that he was fired by Lewandowski while the latter sat and smirked from behind Noem’s desk.

So yes, Lewandowski already holds a concerning amount of power with DHS. Fortunately, Noem dodging questions about their relationship will only bring more scrutiny on how America’s top security official likes to mix business with pleasure. “Tabloid garbage,” indeed.

Noem Can’t Explain Why She Hired 8-Day-Old Company for Ad Campaign

Kristi Noem struggled to defend hiring a company linked to a political operative.

The Department of Homeland Security tapped a little-known ad firm to produce Kristi Noem’s multimillion-dollar ad campaign during the government shutdown last year. But when asked to explain her rationale before a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday, Noem was practically speechless.

Reading off a DHS notice, Colorado Representative Joe Neguse noted that the department had identified just four companies “out of the hundreds of thousands of companies in the United States” as potential hires for the campaign.

“One of those is this Safe America Media Company. Where is Safe America Media headquartered?” asked Colorado Representative Joe Neguse.

“I don’t know,” Noem replied.

DHS paid Safe America Media $143 million in no-bid contracts between February and August 2025 to produce a slate of anti-immigrant ads for ICE Barbie. Months later, ProPublica reported that it was unlikely Safe America Media, which was formed just eight days before it won the DHS contract, would have been able to handle a nine-figure government contract.

However, subcontractors are not required to be made public in federal contracting databases, effectively allowing the whopping taxpayer sum to vanish in an untraceable dark-money network. Exactly where and to whom Safe America Media dished out its millions is still unclear, though the consulting company behind one of Noem’s late 2025 videos spilled the beans.

The money from Noem’s agency was funneling directly into the pockets of her friends and allies at the Strategy Group, a group with myriad ties to the ex–South Dakota governor, including having once employed her alleged beau (Corey Lewandowski) and a CEO who is married to Noem’s ex-chief DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Safe America Media, meanwhile, has no website, no experience, and quiet contracts. The only substantial evidence that the company actually exists at all is that it shares an address with a property owned by veteran Republican operative Michael McElwain.

“Is there a problem with this contract?” drawled the secretary.

“You want the American people to believe that this is all above board, that $143 million of taxpayer money just happened to go to this one company that doesn’t have a headquarters, doesn’t have a website, has never done work for the federal government before, and is registered apparently or attached to a........

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