Thursday, July 9, 2026. Chump takes to the world stage to play a blithering idiot, th 'cease-fire' is off, he's declared Spain to be persona non grata, his supporters are losing faith in him, the courts are ruling against him, ICE shot and killed another person, and much more.
President
Donald Trump’s declaration Wednesday that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was
“over” thrusts him and his administration back into a familiar corner:
mired in an unpopular war that Trump cannot seem to end, with midterm
elections less than four months away.
Republicans were cautiously optimistic after Trump and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding
last month to end the war — the latest in a string of fragile and
ultimately unsuccessful ceasefires since the war started in February.
GOP leaders had warned the White House that rising gas prices
exacerbated by the conflict could cost them in November’s midterms.
Now,
with that deal in tatters, Republicans face those elections tied to a
war most voters oppose, unable to end it but also, for the most part,
unwilling to break with the president who started it.
More
war is a definite headache for Republicans on November’s ballot, said
Sarah Chamberlain, president of the Republican Main Street Partnership,
which supports GOP lawmakers in competitive congressional districts.
Republican
voters were stomaching higher gas prices for a few months to support
Trump, Chamberlain said, but now the summer driving season is here and
there may not be any relief.
Representative Greg Casar, Democrat of
Texas, called the move “outrageous” and criticized President Trump for
“extending his disastrous, illegal war with Iran.” A number of
Democratic lawmakers noted recent votes to call for an end to the war unless approved by Congress.
Republican
leaders of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees in both
chambers were silent on the latest strikes and Trump’s declaration that
cease-fire talks with Tehran were a “waste of time.”
Senator
Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said in a social media
post that his party remained united in their “efforts to end this
illegal war immediately and permanently.”
The political consequences of Donald Trump’s policy mayhem are now coming into view: “Maga” America is getting pissed.
It has been a sight to see how every one of the president’s policy initiatives has sabotaged
some core constituency or other. From farmers and rural Americans to
manufacturing workers and every American struggling to make ends meet,
Trump has torched pretty much his entire political base. For all his
efforts to rig the midterm elections in his favor, it’s as if he is daring the Maga faithful to drop him.
And now, according to the most recent survey by Harris for the Guardian,
even voters who identify as foot soldiers of the president’s political
army are becoming impatient with the state of affairs, increasingly
willing to blame the government for their economic troubles.
About
56% of respondents who identified as members of the Maga coalition said
they were either having trouble meeting their debt payments or worried
they would be struggling soon. The same share admitted similar troubles
meeting housing payments. Fifty-seven per cent said the same about
affording healthcare costs. Fifty-eight per cent claimed the same about
their utility bills, 61% about affording groceries, 63% about paying for
gas.
Many of these stressors stem from Trump’s
policy preferences. Trump’s decision to end government subsidies is
largely at fault for the rising cost of health insurance. The rise in
energy costs and rebound of inflation since March are direct
consequences of Iran’s throttling of the strait of Hormuz. Resurgent
inflation interrupted the Federal Reserve’s campaign to ease monetary
policy and interrupted the gradual decline
in mortgage rates. Manufacturers have culled nearly 100,000 jobs since
Trump took office, in part due to Trump’s tariffs. Farmers have been
whacked by higher costs of energy, fertilizer and machinery.
In a blow for Chump's Dept of 'Justice,' a judge has ruled against their demand for a lengthy prison term. Chris Perez (LAW & CRIME) reports:
Hannah
Dugan — the former Wisconsin judge who was found guilty last year of
impeding ICE during a courthouse arrest — has been ordered to pay a
$5,000 fine, rather than serve any prison time or probation for
obstructing federal agents.
"For several
reasons, prison is not necessary to satisfy the statutory purposes for
sentencing," U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said before sentencing
Dugan on Wednesday, according to local ABC affiliate WISN.
"This
is a defendant who made a bad decision in the moment," Adelman said.
"She appreciated the wrongfulness of her conduct, but this is
nevertheless a few minutes of conduct for a person that has dedicated
her life in service to the needy."
Dugan, 67,
was indicted last year for helping an immigrant named Eduardo
Flores-Ruiz evade ICE officers shortly after he appeared in her
Milwaukee County Circuit courtroom in connection with a domestic abuse
case. Federal prosecutors alleged during her trial that Dugan impeded
ICE agents during the attempted courthouse immigration bust by helping
Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who was facing misdemeanor battery
charges, leave through a jury door after a hearing.
A
federal judge has ruled that the Department of Justice cannot obtain
the names and personal contact information for every individual who
worked during the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County. The
decision, handed down on Tuesday, blocks a grand jury subpoena issued by
the Justice Department in April.
The
subpoena had sought the personal details of county employees and
volunteer poll workers. This request came amid persistent,
unsubstantiated claims by Donald Trump of widespread voter fraud in
Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, which he alleges cost him
victory in the state in 2020.
Fulton County had
moved to quash the subpoena, arguing it was designed to "target, harass
and punish the President’s perceived political opponents" and was
"grossly over broad and untethered to any reasonable need."
U.S.
District Judge William Ray, who was nominated to the bench by Trump,
sided with the county. In his ruling, he stated, "Given the low need for
the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the
disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be
quashed," describing the scope of the request as "staggering."
A
New York federal judge on Wednesday ordered that E. Jean Carroll be
paid $5 million plus interest for damages from a jury verdict that held
President Donald Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing and defaming
the writer.
The order came a day after Trump's lawyers urged
Judge Lewis Kaplan not to disburse nearly $5.8 million to Carroll from
funds that president deposited three years ago with the court to satisfy
the May 2023 jury award.
Kaplan, in
his order Wednesday directing the money to be disbursed to Carroll,
pointed to the language of an agreement between her and Trump that
called for the money to be given her if the Supreme Court denied his
request that it hear his appeal of the verdict in her favor.
The Supreme Court rejected Trump's request on June 29.
Kaplan's
order brushed aside arguments by Trump's attorneys that Carroll cannot
be paid the money unless the Supreme Court rejects the president's new,
long-shot bid for reconsideration of his petition that the high court
take his appeal.
Chump loves to steal money from others but he loathes having to pay his own bills. Leigh Kimmins (DAILY BEAST) notes another personal legal defeat for Chump:
A
federal judge has tossed a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit filed by
President Donald Trump’s social media company against the Washington
Post, dealing a sharp defeat to Trump Media and Technology Group.
U.S.
District Judge Thomas Barber, based in Tampa, ruled that Trump Media
“failed to present evidence that would allow a jury to find by clear and
convincing evidence” that the Post “published the allegedly defamatory
statements with actual malice.” He granted the Post’s motion for summary
judgment and denied Trump Media’s. A full written opinion is
forthcoming.
Chump's a con artist, a
grifter. And the thing about those types is for them to steal money
they need a mark. And a lot of marks are starting to speak. Chris Morris (MONEYWISE) reports:
Donald
Trump and his family generated at least $2.2 billion in income last
year (1), which is nearly four times more than he reported in 2024. Much
of that money came from his supporters who invested in his businesses,
such as Trump Media and Technology Group, or bought his $TRUMP meme
coin.
Their fortunes, however,
didn’t fare nearly as well. In fact, Trump’s supporters are reportedly
down an estimated $7 billion after investing in the president’s business
ventures.
Trump Media shares have
lost 56% of their value in the past year (2) , while the Trump coin’s
value also tumbled about 81% in that time (3). Many of the retail
investors who sunk their savings into those ventures — often as a sign
of loyalty to Trump — have seen the money vanish right as economic
volatility began to spike. And they’re not happy with Trump, or the
members of his inner circle.
“We’re
just poor cattle to them,” Chad Nedohin, who was once the unofficial
captain of Trump Media’s shareholders, told Forbes (4). “He doesn’t care
about anyone.”
Nedohin is one
of many investors who are vocally criticizing Trump and his ventures.
Another, Vadim Fistikan, invested $205,000 in Trump Media in the days,
weeks and months after it went public via SPAC (5). He invested the
money he and his family had planned to use to buy a waterfront property
in Florida.
Today, that investment is worth just $30,000. When
he voiced his frustrations on Truth Social, Fistikan (a three-time
Trump voter) was lambasted by Trump supporters on the social media site.
“I’m
like, ‘Hey, this is a scam,’” he posted, according to Forbes. “And a
lot of people were like, ‘No, you’re just a Trump hater.’ I’m like, ‘No.
I was on board since day one. … I’m now broke. Pretty much my whole
life savings [was] in this one stock. This is the greatest theft, con
job he has ever done.”
Kristi Noem may be out as Secretary of Homeland Security but her destruction remains. As does her attempts to cover it up. Henry Giardina (QUEERTY) notes:
This
year, Kristi Noem went from high-level Tr*mp official to tabloid fodder
in the space of about three seconds. After ICE Barbie was fired in
March, she was hit with a fresh wave of scandal
when news broke that her faithful Christian husband Bryon had been
secretly spending thousands on his crossdressing “bimbofication” fetish.
Things got even worse when the sex workers servicing Bryon’s kink
started speaking to the press.
Honestly,
as comeuppance goes, that’s a pretty solid dose. But this is Kristi
Noem we’re talking about, so her chances of continuing to step in it
even in her post-Tr*mp era are still quite high. Consider her most
recent scandal, an infidelity breach that’s followed her from her ICE
days to the present.
While Bryon was exploring
his kinky side with several OF workers, Noem was allegedly engaged in
her own pretty openly-discussed cheating scandal concerning her close
relationship with fellow Tr*mp enabler Corey Lewandowski.
Rumors
about an affair between Noem and Lewandowski are nothing new, but new
court documents just revealed the potential extent of some juicy
communication between the two.
Joseph
Guy, Noem’s former DHS deputy chief of staff, apparently wiped a Signal
group chat including texts from Lewandowski, Noem, and other DHS
officials earlier this year. Considering that DHS contractors claimed
they were coached to pay Lewandowski for his help during the Homeland
Security transition that put Noem in charge of Tr*mp’s mass deportation rollout just a week before the deleted messages, the timing is a little bit suss.
This
move also happened on Guy’s final day in office. As you can imagine,
none of this looks great for Lewandowski, or for Noem. We don’t know the
content or context of the group chat, but the fact that Guy wiped his
phone weeks after a probe threatened to expose the nature of Noem and
Lewandoski’s relationship (and their DHS and FEMA-related contract
scandal definitely isn’t the least guilty move you could make.
The
Signal wipe also happened shortly after Noem swore to Congress that
Lewandowski had absolutely nothing, zero, zilch to do with contract
approval. On March 18, the team was warned that if they shredded
sensitive documents concerning the matter, they would be breaking the
law.
Technically deleting isn’t shredding, but
Guy, whose wife works for the anti-LGBTQ+ Heritage Foundation and is
considered to be one of the many authors of Project 2025, went ahead and
did it anyway. He came clean about deleting the group chat files during
a deposition in early May.
A
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man
during an arrest operation in Houston on Tuesday after authorities said
he ignored commands to stop and drove his vehicle toward federal
officers.
The Department of Homeland Security
said the shooting happened after the man, identified as 39-year-old
Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, allegedly tried to flee and
attempted to ram an ICE agent with his vehicle.
ICE
has repeatedly falsely claimed that someone tried to ram them with a
vehicle. While ICE is under new management with Secretary of Homeland
Security Markwayne Mullen, it's too soon to give them the benefit of the
doubt. They're going to need to earn trust with the public and with
the courts. They're going to have to demonstrate that they can follow
the law before they'll be seen as lawful. Dan Gooding (NEWSWEEK) notes, "Congresswoman
Sylvia Garcia, who represents the Magnolia Park neighborhood where the
incident took place, shared a statement on X calling for a full
investigation."
Family members and local officials are calling for a full
investigation into the shooting death of a man killed by ICE agents in
Houston.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot yesterday as ICE agents
tried to arrest him. Federal officials say he tried to flee and -- quote
-- "weaponized his vehicle toward an ICE officer who opened fire in
self-defense." Salgado Araujo was shot in the abdomen and taken to a
hospital, where he later died.
ICE says he was a Mexican national
living in the U.S. without legal status. His family and immigration
advocates are questioning the official account, saying ICE has yet to
provide evidence to support their claims.
One of his sons spoke at a news conference today.
Ronaldo Salgado:
I am calling for a full investigation into the events
that transpired yesterday -- yesterday, July 7. He did not deserve to
die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot
and killed by ICE. He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado
Araujo, a husband, a father, and a job creator for dozens of men who
also wanted the American dream.
Geoff Bennett:
Colleen DeGuzman joins us now. She's a reporter for The Texas Tribune.
So, Colleen, thank you for being with us.
So,
DHS says Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle, that he ignored repeated
commands and that he tried to run over an ICE officer. What evidence,
if any, have they provided to support their accounts?
Colleen DeGuzman, The Texas Tribune:
We have received very little evidence and very little
explanation. What we do know is that ICE was in unmarked vehicles when
they stopped Salgado Araujo.
And what we heard from -- today from
the brother -- from the son, Ronaldo, is that his dad -- he believed
that his dad would not have tried to flee from ICE, let alone run over
an agent with his vehicle. The vehicles that ICE were using were
unmarked, which is the reason why his son Ronaldo believes that his dad
did not know that he was being pulled over by ICE.
His dad was a
construction worker and was always worried that his tools were going to
be stolen. So that's why he thinks his dad thought he was going to get
robbed and why he tried to escape.
Geoff Bennett:
Were there eyewitnesses? And, if so, what are they saying about what transpired?
Colleen DeGuzman:
We have not been able to contact any eyewitnesses or receive any video footage yet.
But,
today, at a press conference with a lot of Houston local leaders, they
are pressing for body footage camera and any camera footage that there
is out there on what happened in Houston's East End, which is a very
Latino neighborhood.
Geoff Bennett:
What more have you pieced together about Salgado Araujo,
his life, his life in Houston, and what brought ICE agents to arrest
him?
Colleen DeGuzman:
Those are the same questions that we have right now. We
are unsure of whether this was targeted, whether this was just a normal
traffic stop.
I was at that intersection yesterday, and there was a
lot of construction in that area. And so we're wondering if this was
targeted or if this was random. But what we do know is that Salgado
Araujo had three sons. And, today, we heard from Ronaldo, who is a
teacher who is a proud University of Houston graduate.
His second
son is 27 years old. He's also named Lorenzo, Lorenzo Lorenzo Jr., and
he went to Tufts University, and is an engineer. And he has at least one
grandson. He moved to Houston 35 years ago and has built a construction
company here in Houston, and he's very proud of it.
He builds
homes in North Houston. And he, according to his son, was a very simple
man who had a routine in the morning to get up really early. He would
pet the dog goodbye and kiss his wife, who was his high school
sweetheart, goodbye before work. And every day, when the day ended, he
would sit by his porch outside to soak up the sunset.
He was a very simple man with a very strict routine. So that's what we know about him.
Again, ICE has blown to the benefit of the doubt. They lied repeatedly to the people and to the courts. They have not followed the law. Another example of their not following the law? Nicole Charky-Chami (RAW STORY) reports:
A
federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered
ICE to release the nursing mother of a 6-month-old from ICE custody,
according to reports.
Judge David C. Joseph of
the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
ruled that Karina Alvarez San Juan, who has three other minor children
who are U.S. citizens, was detained in violation of ICE's policy against
detaining most pregnant or postpartum mothers.
It’s
“Constitution-free” because ICE has decided that the Fourth Amendment,
which reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated…” is just a suggestion, rather than one of the
foundational guarantees of American liberty; just an obstacle standing
between the Trump administration and the police state it’s steadily but
relentlessly building.
In
Washington, D.C., for example, a construction worker got waved over by
the Park Police for a minor traffic matter, and within a minute ICE agents had surrounded his truck,
asking where everyone was from and whether they were in the country
illegally. Two of his passengers were taken away, and nobody would tell
him where.
ICE is also now paying
state and local police to help, and the money is staggering. One
estimate says the total could hit two billion dollars this year alone.
In Florida, police departments pocketed nearly forty million dollars for
vehicles and gear. In the Florida Keys, agents threw up a checkpoint on the only highway in and out, a tourist route, and made more than three hundred arrests.
They’re
stationed at courthouses, bus stations, train terminals, and airports
too, snaring domestic travelers who never came near a border. The ACLU’s
Naureen Shah put it plainly. “We’ve never seen this financial incentive
scheme exist.”
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Pentagon’s independent
watchdog found that Trump administration defunded and blocked reforms to
protect civilians during war, potentially violating federal law
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.) led nine members of Congress in pressing Secretary of Defense
Pete Hegseth on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) defunding and
deprioritizing of programs that prevent and respond to civilian harm in
war. The letter follows a new report by
the DoD Inspector General (DoD IG), which found that under Hegseth’s
leadership, DoD has put service members and civilians at risk and has
potentially violated federal law. It also follows the recent U.S.
military strikes on Iranian water treatment facilities, which damaged
thousands of civilians’ access to drinking water.
“The Trump administration’s military adventurism overseas, combined
with its obvious disregard for civilians, do not make the American
people or our service members safer. We () request clarification about
the steps the Department is taking to address these deficiencies and to
protect civilians in line with the Department’s strategic, legal, and
moral obligations,” wrote the lawmakers.
Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie
Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Patty
Murray (D-Wash.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined in signing the
letter.
Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) also joined in signing the letter.
In May, the DoD IG released a review of DoD’s implementation of its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) Action Plan (CHMR-AP),
which outlined critical steps to prevent, mitigate, and respond to
civilian harm. The DoD IG’s report found that the Trump administration
may have violated federal law by defunding and blocked civilian
protection efforts.
The DoD IG report confirms that all of the objectives of the plan –
including training for assessing and investigating civilian harm – are
“at risk” under Hegseth’s leadership. The report also found that the
Trump administration’s failure to implement the plan means DoD is
failing to comply with congressionally-mandated obligations to protect
civilians during armed conflict.
“These revelations make real the concerns that we have previously
raised about your complete ‘disregard for the strategic, legal, and
moral imperative to minimize civilian harm,’” the lawmakers said.
During the DoD IG’s investigation, staff and combatant commands
warned that eliminating CHMR funding and personnel “harms readiness” and
“increases risk to military personnel and objectives and mission
success.”
“The Department’s failure to implement the CHMR-AP has profound
consequences for civilians in conflict zones and makes service members’
jobs harder and riskier,” the lawmakers continued.
DoD officials, veteran and family organizations, and other national
security experts have repeatedly emphasized the importance of civilian
protection. In their confirmation hearings, CENTCOM Commander Admiral
Brad Cooper said that civilian harm “risks degrading our credibility and trust and puts troops at risk,” and SOCOM Commander Frank Bradley called protecting civilians “critical to our success.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, has also touted the positive impacts of the DoD CHMR programs at combatant commands.
The report also revealed that DoD failed to cooperate with the
office’s investigation, including by blocking investigators’ attempts to
observe an implementation meeting and withholding access to DoD’s
implementation tracking tools.
The lawmakers pressed Secretary Hegseth to explain DoD’s failure to
implement civilian protection policies, account for changes in
resourcing and staffing for civilian protection efforts, explain what
DoD is doing to comply with federal law requiring civilian protection
policies and institutions, and provide any analysis DoD has done on the
impact of recent strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran by July 19,
2026.
Senator Warren is a long-time champion of civilian harm prevention reforms for the U.S. military:
In April 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Van Hollen (D-Md.) led nine senators in opening a new investigation into
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s role in weakening civilian harm
prevention programs and the catastrophic civilian impacts of President
Trump’s war in Iran.
In March 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) raised her concerns to
the commanders of United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and United
States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) about the Trump administration’s
sidelining of the military’s Judge Advocate General Corps (JAGs), who
are responsible for providing independent legal advice to commanders.
This sidelining risks increasing the chances of civilian harm as the war
against Iran continues.
In March 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Armed
Services Committee, along with Senators Van Hollen (D-Md.), Kaine
(D-Va.), Schatz (D-Hawaii), Senate Democratic Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.)
and 41 colleagues, pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for
a full investigation on the airstrikes on a school in Minab, Iran, and
other civilian casualties in the Trump administration’s war on Iran. The
senators are also calling for accountability for those responsible.
In March 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate
Armed Services Committee (SASC), spoke on the floor of the Senate, calling on Congress to end President Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran and investigate civilian harm in Iran.
In December 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Schatz (D-Hawaii) led 10 senators in launching an investigation into the role of the U.S. military in distributing humanitarian assistance to Gaza following the October ceasefire.
In July 2025, At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Personnel Subcommittee, secured commitments from
the nominees to be Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
and Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), on integrating and
protecting reforms from Republican and Democratic administrations on
civilian harm prevention. Senator Warren also secured support from Vice
Admiral Bradley to partner with outside experts to conduct a
longitudinal study of blast overpressure.
In March 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services
Subcommittee on Personnel, questioned the nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)) about his vision to prioritize civilian harm prevention.
In December 2024, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) sent a letter requesting the
Department of Defense Inspector General investigate reports that the
DoD mishandled a case involving U.S. Marines killing civilians in
Haditha, Iraq, and DoD’s continued efforts to cover up the alleged war
crimes.
In March 2024, at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the
Commander of the United States Central Command and Commander of the
United States Africa Command about measures needed to prevent and
respond to civilian harm caused by weapons and assistance provided by
the United States to its military partners.
In December 2023, following reports that Israel was using explosive
weapons against civilian targets, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Kaine
(D-Va.), Sanders (I-Vt.), Merkley (D-Ore.), and Heinrich (D-N.M.), wrote
to President Joe Biden, pushing for closer oversight of Israel’s use of U.S. weapons to ensure the weapons will not be used to cause preventable civilian harm.
In September 2023, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Department of Defense to improve investigations into civilian harm by collaborating with civil society organizations on the ground.
In July 2023, Senators Warren (D-Mass.),and Van Hollen (D-Maryland),
along with Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), sent a letter to
then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, with concerns that a May
2023 U.S. airstrike in Syria may have killed a civilian. The lawmakers pushed the Defense Department to publicly release as much of their internal investigation into the airstrike as possible.
In December 2022, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Sara
Jacobs (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin
III, raising concerns that the Department of Defense’s (DoD)
September 2022 report to Congress on civilian casualties appeared to
undercount civilian casualties from U.S. military operations and that
DoD was not exercising its authority to make amends to civilian victims
and survivors.
In September 2022, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Sanders (I-Vt.) and Lee
(R-Utah) sent letters to the Department of Defense and the Department
of State, calling on the Departments to
thoroughly investigate how U.S. military support to the Saudi-led
coalition fighting in Yemen may have led to civilian harm and analyze to
the effectiveness of civilian harm reduction efforts by the Saudi and
Emirati governments.
In April 2022, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Markey (D-Mass.), Leahy
(D-Vt.), Durbin (D-Ill.), Merkley (D-Ore.), Sanders (I-Vt.), and Van
Hollen (D-Md.) sent a letter to Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, III, urging the Department of Defense to
brief Congress on its progress in preventing civilian harm and
highlights a series of issues and priorities that the DoD should focus
on in the CHMR-AP.
In March 2022, during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the
Commanders of the United States Central Command and United States
Africa Command on the steps they are taking to prevent civilian harm,
following the release of Defense Secretary Austin’s directive to the
Department of Defense (DOD) to develop an action plan to prevent and
investigate civilian harm.
In February 2022, during a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), questioned LTG
Michael “Erik” Kurilla’s, then-nominee to be General and Commander of
United States Central Command, about civilian casualties that have
resulted from U.S. operations.
In November 2021, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Senator
Jack Reed (D-R.I.), then-Chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, requesting that the Committee launch a
formal inquiry to review the findings and implications of a recent New
York Times report detailing how the U.S. military hid an airstrike in
Baghuz, Syria that killed dozens of civilians and was flagged as a
potential war crime by legal analysts.
