The Brief | The Pentagon Is Planning Ground Raids in Iran. Congress Left Town Without Funding DHS. Happy Holy Week.
Plus: 36 House Republicans heading for the exits, Israel bars a cardinal from the Holy Sepulchre, and Trump quietly lets a sanctioned Russian tanker dock in Cuba.
It’s Monday!
Back to the grind, my friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful weekend and Palm Sunday!
If you seek a break from the madness of the new cycle, might I suggest The Sunday Desk? My Sunday newsletter, where I prove to people that I not only consume news and politics but also have other interests.
Sunday Desk | I Said No More Taylor Sheridan!
If you have the opportunity to toss aside your Saturday routine, ignore the disaster on your dining table and step over the pile of laundry as you rush out through the laundry room and to your car to surprise one of your best friends, I recommend you do it. Especially if they are only two hours away, a short distance to travel when it would normally tak…
In today’s Brief:
The Iran war enters a dangerous new chapter as the Pentagon plans ground raids and Trump weighs a mission to physically extract uranium from Iranian soil
Democrats and Republicans both pass DHS funding bills — just not the same bill — then leave Washington for Easter with nothing resolved
A record-breaking 36 House Republicans won’t seek reelection, and nobody in leadership wants to talk about what that means
Israeli police block a cardinal from praying at the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday — then Netanyahu reverses course after international backlash
The U.S. Coast Guard watched a sanctioned Russian oil tanker sail into Cuba and did nothing
The Brief runs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If someone forwarded this to you, you can fix that problem at the bottom of this email.
Let’s get into it.
Is The Air War Moving to a Ground War?
One month into Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon is reportedly preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran — Special Operations forces, conventional infantry, raids, not a full-scale invasion — while Trump separately weighs a mission to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of enriched uranium from Iran’s bombed-out nuclear sites. The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit has arrived in the theater. The 82nd Airborne is staged. About 7,000 troops are in the region, with 10,000 more under consideration.
The WSJ reports Trump is “generally open” to ordering forces to fly into Iran’s nuclear sites under fire, excavate rubble, locate 40–50 cylinders of enriched uranium, and airlift them out. Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, former CENTCOM commander: “This is not a quick in and out kind of deal.”
Iran’s missile infrastructure is down roughly 90% since February 28, but mobile launchers remain unaccounted for. Oil is above $116/barrel. Gas is pushing $4/gallon. The Strait of Hormuz is only partially reopened, and Houthi missile attacks on Israel have entered the picture for the first time.
Breaking this morning: Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran is in “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME,” language that suggests either backchannel talks are further along than publicly acknowledged, or Trump is laying narrative groundwork for escalation. Either way, it’s a significant signal.
An AP-NORC poll found 62% of Americans strongly oppose ground troops. Just 12% are in favor. Congressional Republicans are split, Rep. Van Orden, a retired SEAL and Trump ally, was blunt: “The answer is no.” The assets are in place. The question is whether this morning’s post signals an off-ramp or a deadline.
Day 42: The DHS Shutdown
Here’s what happened at 3 a.m. Friday, while you were sleeping. The Senate passed a DHS funding bill by voice vote with only five senators in the chamber — Thune, Schmitt, Moreno, Hirono, and Kim. Five people. In the middle of the night. On a bill that funds all of DHS except ICE and most of CBP. Then every senator left Washington for a two-week Easter vacation.
That’s not a compromise. That’s the entire point of the standoff. Schumer called ICE “Donald Trump’s rogue and deadly militia.” Democrats are holding Homeland Security hostage to defund immigration enforcement. Homan said it plainly: “They’re holding the department hostage.”
Johnson rejected the Senate bill outright: “We’re not going to split apart two of the most important agencies in the government and leave them hanging like that.” The House then voted 213-203 to fully fund every DHS agency — TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, ICE, CBP, all of it — through May 22. Democrats voted no. Schumer called it “dead on arrival.” House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain fired back: “I would suggest that the Senate does come back and at least take a vote. That is what they were elected to do.”
Here’s what matters and what the media keeps glossing over: ICE law enforcement — Enforcement and Removal Operations — is funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which gave ICE roughly $75 billion for enforcement and detention that can be spent over four years. Agents are still making arrests. But the administrative side of ICE and DHS — the operations that coordinate deportation logistics, processing, and case management — runs on annual appropriations. That’s what’s unfunded. The part that actually moves people out of the country is the part Democrats are choking.
The human cost: 510 TSA officers have quit. Nearly 12% didn’t show up on Thursday, over a third at JFK, Baltimore, Houston, and Atlanta. Trump signed an emergency memorandum on Friday to pay TSA directly. Paychecks could arrive today. But the rest of DHS — 270,000 employees — stays unfunded while Congress sorts it out from the beach. Nobody returns until April 13.
Holy Week in a War Zone
On Palm Sunday — the first day of the holiest week in Christianity — Israeli police stopped Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and three other priests from privately praying at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It was the first time in centuries that Catholic leaders were denied access for this occasion.
Israel cited wartime security — Iranian missile fragments have struck meters from the church, and gatherings were capped at 50. But Huckabee, one of Israel’s strongest allies, publicly called it “an unfortunate overreach” — four people is not a mass gathering. Cruz pushed back too.
Netanyahu reversed the decision within hours. Italy’s foreign ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador.
Update: As of Monday morning, Israel Police and Cardinal Pizzaballa have reached a framework agreement for Holy Week, including Easter ceremonies at the Holy Sepulchre:
At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV’s Palm Sunday homily left no room for interpretation: “Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” He called the Iran conflict “atrocious.”
Important context: a homily is pastoral, not doctrinal — the Church’s Catechism (CCC 2309) still permits military force when specific conditions are met. Leo chose to step well outside that tradition. Whether that’s prophetic courage or political overreach depends on your priors.
P.S. I'm not your Catholic theologian, I'm just the lady with the newsletter. But it’s being discussed, the distinction matters, and so we are talking about it.
Trump Blinks on Cuba — Or Does He?
Here’s a story that deserves more scrutiny than it’s getting. The U.S. Coast Guard had two cutters positioned off Cuba’s northeast coast and watched a sanctioned Russian oil tanker — the Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying 730,000 barrels of crude, owned by state-run Sovcomflot — sail into Cuban waters and dock. The tanker had been broadcasting its destination as “Atlantis, USA.” Apparently, someone in the Russian merchant fleet has a sense of humor.
The administration had effectively maintained an oil blockade on Cuba since January. Treasury explicitly added Cuba to the list of countries blocked from receiving Russian petroleum. And yet when the moment came to enforce it, the Coast Guard did not act.
Trump’s explanation? “We don’t mind somebody getting a boatload... because they have to survive.” He added: “If someone wants to send oil to Cuba right now, I don’t have a problem with that, whether it’s Russia or not.” This is the same president who said just days ago at an investment conference, “Cuba is next, by the way,” and floated military action after Iran.
What is this? Strategic patience? Russia accommodation? A quiet concession to avoid a second maritime front while Iran escalates? This one’s worth watching.
The Republican Exodus Nobody Wants to Talk About
Thirty-six House Republicans have now announced they won’t seek reelection in 2026, breaking the previous record of 34 set in the 2018 midterms, the cycle that ended with Democrats flipping the House. The list spans the ideological spectrum: Chip Roy, Jodey Arrington, and Michael McCaul on the right; Don Bacon in the middle. Ten are running for governor, several for Senate.
By comparison, 21 House Democrats are not seeking reelection.
Speaker Johnson is already managing attendance crises — 11 Republicans missed a vote on Friday alone. Members who are mentally checked out mid-term don’t whip colleagues and don’t carry water on tough bills. The historical pattern is brutal for the president’s party in midterms, and early polls are already showing headwinds.
This doesn’t mean doom. But it means the window for the legislative agenda is narrower than leadership is letting on, and anyone telling you the majority is safe is delusional.
Quick Rundown
The Great KitKat Heist: Twelve tons of KitKat bars — 413,793 individual units — were stolen from a truck en route from Italy to Poland, just before Easter. Nestlé warned of a potential shortage in Europe and is tracking the stolen bars using batch codes. KitKat’s official response: “We appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste.” Somewhere, the Hamburglar is taking notes.
KITKAT@KITKATRegarding recent press coverage
5:53 PM · Mar 29, 2026 · 74.9M Views12.6K Replies · 31.2K Reposts · 320K LikesTiger Woods arrested for DUI: Rollover crash near his Jupiter Island home. Breathalyzer came back clean — triple zeroes — but impairment is believed to be drug or medication-related. He refused a urine test and was released after 8 hours. Trump called him “a very close friend.” This is Woods’ second DUI-related incident.
Breaking911@Breaking911🚨 BREAKING: Tiger Woods involved in rollover crash on Jupiter Island, Florida
7:37 PM · Mar 27, 2026 · 3.19M Views629 Replies · 546 Reposts · 4.24K LikesRubio vs. the EU at G7: Heated exchange between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas over Russia. She asked when U.S. patience with Moscow would run out. Rubio shot back: “If you think you can do it better, go ahead. We will step aside.” He later denied any tension had occurred.
LA “No Kings” protest turns violent: Demonstrators at a federal courthouse assaulted officers, prompting federal agents to deploy tear gas. LAPD issued a citywide tactical alert. An assistant U.S. Attorney had a message for the crowd: “We have you on video. We will find you and arrest you too.”
Derrick Evans@DerrickEvans4WV🚨 BREAKING: At least 75 arrested at “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles after agitators clash with federal agents Crowd throws concrete blocks and attempts to breach lines as situation turns violent6:05 PM · Mar 29, 2026 · 4.83K Views10 Replies · 20 Reposts · 73 Likes
Let’s Talk About It
The administration is literally planning three different ground operations in Iran while Congress is on vacation and DHS still can’t pay its people. What’s the one thing you’d want answered before any boots hit Iranian soil?
And on a lighter note — 12 tons of KitKats. Twelve tons. If you were pulling off that heist, where are you hiding 413,793 chocolate bars? And why? Wrong answers only.
Drop your takes in the comments. I’ll see you Wednesday.
The Brief publishes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Forward to someone who needs to understand what’s actually happening.