Iran war costs, SASC hearing dominate Senate's Friday output

Sen. Warren and Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., sent letters Friday to the CEOs of the six largest U.S. airlines demanding answers on fare increases. The release cited jet fuel prices rising from $2.50 before the war to $4.51 by the end of April — an 80 percent increase — and noted that flights are "almost 20% more expensive to fly this year than at the same time last year."

Sen. Gillibrand took her case to Western New York, gaggling with reporters at an ARCO station in Buffalo. "From driving down the 90 to dropping your child off at school or traveling to a doctor's appointment, Western New Yorkers are now paying 50 percent more just to get where they need to go," Gillibrand said. "This is the direct result of President Trump's reckless war with Iran."

Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan, quoted in Gillibrand's release, added: "When fuel costs spike, it drives up the price of goods and services for families and takes money out of local economies." Erie County Deputy County Executive Lisa M. Chimera said the county has resources available for residents but that "real relief must begin with federal action."

Friday's stop was described as part of a statewide tour Gillibrand is conducting on rising gas costs.

Chairman Wicker opened the public SASC session by framing Operation Epic Fury as a justified response to decades of Iranian aggression. "That campaign has rendered the Islamic Republic of Iran a shadow of its former self," Wicker said in his opening statement, while acknowledging "the fourteen service members who lost their lives in this campaign, as well as the approximately [300] service members who have been injured."

Wicker traced what he called a pattern of failed appeasement: "Rather than dealing with the problem, successive Democrat and Republican administrations sought so-called 'de-escalation' with Iran. This often afforded Iran the time and resources to develop its nuclear program, the ballistic missile program, and global terrorist infrastructure."

Sen. Kelly pressed Admiral Cooper directly on the reduction of CENTCOM's civilian harm mitigation team. "My understanding is that you've gone from ten down to one as part of a department wide reduction in CHMR, that their role is to try to minimize harm to civilians when we're conducting combat operations," Kelly said. Cooper confirmed the reduction: "Yes, sir." Kelly also raised a strike on a girls' elementary school in Minab that reportedly killed at least 168 people, mostly children, which Cooper said remains under investigation.

On AFRICOM, Kelly pressed General Anderson on an information-operations funding gap: "You requested $94 million for information operation activities. You were promised $25 million from the department. You ultimately received only $19 million [...] What are you able to do if you were fully funded?" Anderson argued that America's best weapon is its own story: "What America brings is very unique. We're still a beacon of hope and light in the world, and I think we should be willing to talk about who we are."

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., made the rounds on Fox News, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV to praise President Trump's trip to Beijing. Daines, who visited China with a bipartisan Senate delegation the week prior, said he expects concrete trade deliverables: "I think you're going to see a Boeing deal, a beef deal, a beans deal. We call it Boeing, beef and beans."

Daines also flagged progress on fentanyl precursor interdiction as a potential area of U.S.-China cooperation, telling Fox Business: "We are making progress seeing the Chinese stopping some of these precursors that are killing Americans. So one of the things the Chinese could get out of this is reducing one of the tariffs we have in place resulting from these fentanyl precursors."

On Bloomberg, Daines said Chinese officials told him they want to help stabilize the Iran situation: "The readout from that meeting was that the Chinese want to help stabilize the situation, to de-escalate it and get the Strait of Hormuz open, get the flow of oil moving forward."

In floor statements, Sen. Britt honored four Alabama officers killed in the line of duty over the past year: Conservation Officer Shawn Nixon, Officer Dallas Hinton, Corporal David Hathcock, and Lieutenant Mark Meadows. Across each statement, Britt used identical framing: "I rise today to honor the men and women who risk their lives every day when they leave their home, so that we can return to the safety of ours."

Of Lt. Meadows, an Army Ranger veteran who served the Irondale Police Department for more than 30 years, Britt said: "Mark was the real deal and will always be remembered as leaning in and helping those who needed it most." Of Officer Hinton, 25, who served two years with the Thomasville Police Department after the Marines, Britt said: "I am confident it would have been a bright one. He leaves behind a loving fiancée, a mother, a father, as well as two brothers and two sisters."

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., also took the floor for Police Week, noting her personal connection: "For me, supporting law enforcement is personal. My husband is a retired law enforcement officer." Cortez Masto highlighted three bills that advanced this week — the Medal of Sacrifice Act, which passed the Senate unanimously and heads to the president's desk; the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which passed the House; and the Tribal Warrant Fairness Act, which cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, both D-Va., sent a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins pressing him on the elimination of more than 1,700 vacant positions across Virginia — part of a nationwide drawdown of tens of thousands of VA roles.

The senators wrote that the cuts fall heavily on clinical positions: "More than half of the eliminated vacancies in Virginia appear to have been for roles with a direct clinical nexus to patients — physicians, nurses, specialists, therapists, pharmacists, among others. No matter the role — and as we have argued in response to your Department's assertion that earlier hiring freezes were not impacting patient care — the workforce at VA facilities is meant to function as a team; dramatic cuts to any position therefore necessitates that the remaining personnel shoulder increasingly more responsibility."

The hardest-hit facilities include Hampton VAMC, which lost more than 700 vacancies, and Richmond VAMC, which lost more than 300. The senators requested a response no later than June 1, 2026, and asked for the regional and facility staffing models that, they noted, VA is required by statute to have produced but has not delivered to Congress.

Sen. Warner joined 19 Democratic colleagues Friday in introducing the Scientific Integrity Act, a bill to insulate federal research agencies from political interference. "Nonpartisan science is critical to innovative R&D, medical research advancement, and our nation's competitive edge," Warner said. "As we continue to see independent federal agencies be attacked by the Trump administration, I'm proud to sponsor this legislation that will strengthen safeguards to protect science agencies from political tampering."

The bill would formalize scientific integrity requirements across agencies that conduct or fund research, affirm that scientific findings should be free from political or financial influence, and establish protections for federal scientists. The release cited the Trump administration's removal of more than a dozen independent inspectors general and the suspension of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report — described as the first such interruption in 60 years — as context for the legislation.

Sen. Kelly and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., introduced the Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act, directing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow commercial-grade concrete and steel in non-safety-related structures of nuclear power plants. The bill builds on a precedent the NRC set for TerraPower's Natrium reactor in Wyoming.

"We need more reliable, affordable power to keep up with growing demand in Arizona and across the country, but outdated rules about building materials drive up costs and slow down construction for nuclear plants," Kelly said. Lummis framed it as a regulatory modernization: "Requiring nuclear-grade materials in parts of a plant that have nothing to do with safety drives up costs and locks out local construction crews who are more than capable of doing the job."

The bill's sponsors estimate allowing commercial-grade materials in appropriate areas could cut construction time and costs by roughly 28 percent. Concrete represents approximately 79.5 percent of overall materials used in nuclear plant construction, and nuclear-grade foundations can require roughly double the pouring time of standard work.

Sen. Gillibrand introduced the Aaron Salter, Jr., Responsible Body Armor Possession Act on Friday, the week of the four-year anniversary of the Tops supermarket shooting in Buffalo. The bill would ban the sale, transfer, or possession of body armor meeting or exceeding Level III ballistic resistance — tested to stop 7.62 mm rifle ammunition — by civilians, while exempting law enforcement and military.

"This is commonsense legislation that could help save lives," Gillibrand said. "I am introducing this legislation in honor of the lives that were lost four years ago at Tops in Buffalo." The bill is named for retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter, Jr., the security guard on duty who was killed attempting to stop the shooter. The release notes such armor is currently legal for civilians in most states to purchase online without federal restrictions.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., used a Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Committee hearing this week to press EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on two North Dakota redevelopment projects. Hoeven secured a commitment from Zeldin to promptly issue final approval for Minot's former landfill — cleaned up and removed from the Superfund National Priorities List in 1997 — to be converted into a recreational site including disc golf, mountain biking, and cross-country trails. "I appreciate Administrator Zeldin for his commitment to move this final approval forward in a timely way," Hoeven said.

Separately, Hoeven pushed for the Mid-America Steel site in Fargo — a former industrial property relocated to make way for a regional flood protection project — to access EPA Brownfields Program funding. "The Mid-America Steel site is in the heart of Fargo, but there are some environmental concerns that need to be addressed before this property can be put to good use," Hoeven said. "Just like we did with the Lashkowitz Tower, the EPA can be a partner in this effort through the Brownfields Program."

Sen. Warner issued a statement welcoming the return of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group after what he described as a record-breaking deployment of more than 320 days at sea. Warner thanked the sailors but used the statement to criticize the circumstances: "President Trump sent the Ford around the world — repeatedly extending its deployment — from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean and the coast of Venezuela and then back to the Middle East in support of an open-ended conflict of his choosing. These decisions placed enormous strain on our servicemembers, their families, and the overall readiness of one of our most important naval assets."

Warner, who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, closed by addressing military families: "These families serve too. They deserve stability, support, and leaders who understand that military strength starts with keeping faith with the people who wear the uniform and the families who stand behind them."

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced the Stop Fueling Cartel Violence Act, requiring the Defense Department to report to Congress on efforts to combat fuel smuggling by Mexican criminal organizations. "Fuel theft in Mexico has become the most significant source of non-drug revenue for cartels, enabling them to sustain their illegal operations on both sides of the border, and we must take action to combat it," Rosen said.

Separately, Rosen and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., announced delivery of more than $3.5 million in DHS funding for Nevada disaster mitigation and emergency response projects, including $1.1 million for backup generators at the Flamingo Water Resource Center and $1 million for emergency communications upgrades in Clark County. Cortez Masto said: "I've been calling for the passage of this bill to pay FEMA, TSA, Secret Service, and Coast Guard employees for months. I'm glad to see it finally signed into law."

Signals

• volumeFriday output ran 14.3% above the Friday baseline (30 releases vs. 26.2 average), driven largely by Sen. Britt's four consecutive National Police Week floor-statement releases and Sen. Warner's three releases.
• coordinatedWarren, Gillibrand, and the Warren-Sanders-Blumenthal-Heinrich group each independently tied Iran war costs to domestic consumer prices (gas, airfares) on the same day, with no shared release.
• recessThe Senate is 10 days from the Memorial Day state work period; no votes are scheduled for today.
• silent breaksSen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., has issued no releases in the archive (999 days flagged), an anomaly that may reflect a data gap rather than genuine silence and warrants verification.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, D-GA31d
• Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL30d
• Sen. Alex Padilla, D-CA29d
• Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS29d
• Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-NM28d
• Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY25d