The Common Ills: Iran -- another US service member has died and oil rose to over $100 a barrel

Sunday and possibly the firing of Kirsti Noem as Homeland Security Secretary last week has emboldened people to call for more expulsions. For example, Laura Esposito (DAILY BEAST) reports:

A Republican senator is calling for the resignation of one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers.

Thom Tillis said White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is “a big problem” for the president during an appearance on CNN Sunday.

“He’s a big problem in this administration. He has been from the beginning,” Tillis, 65, said on CNN’s State of the Union.

The North Carolina lawmaker has been among few Republican senators to join Democrats in scrutinizing the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration crackdown, which mounted pressure on Miller and Kristi Noem, who was fired as Homeland Security secretary on Thursday.

Stephen Miller was also raised by Senator Tim Kaine this morning on CBS' FACE THE NATION when he was asked about Kristi Noem's firing:

MARGARET BRENNAN: You've said you do regret having voted for her. You were one of the Democrats who did.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Big mistake. Yes, look, she was a governor. Governors are often good cabinet secretaries. But what we learned, and this bears going forward, is that she wasn't calling the shots. Stephen Miller is calling the shots. And as long as he is calling the shots, without reforms, this is going to continue to be a very, very rogue, renegade department.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What they use.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Well, for homes, I would say judicial warrants. I think that would be important for invading people's homes. These are basic principles that our local law enforcement agencies live by. The Ashland town police lives by them. We should ask our federal agencies to do exactly the same thing.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, do you need to see and hear something from Senator Markwayne Mullin to get you to vote for him? If you're saying he's just going to be basically a puppet of Stephen Miller.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: That's our fear. So, he could demonstrate otherwise. But what we want to see is not just the change in the nameplate on the door, we want to see reforms to the way ICE and CBP operates. They should operate like local law enforcement does, not invading people's homes without warrants, body cameras, not wearing masks –

MARGARET BRENNAN: Administrative, not judicial warrants, right?

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Yes. Yes.

Another one today who was being asked to be set aside was Lindsey Graham -- who coached Netanyahu on how to approach Chump to get him to agree to go to war with Iran. Peter Aitken (NEWSWEEK) notes:

Conservative commentator Meghan McCain on Sunday posted a message on X urging the Trump administration to “stop sending” GOP Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina out to speak for the administration over his messaging regarding the Iran war.

“I’ve known Lindsey Graham since I was a child,” McCain, daughter of the late Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, wrote. “I am imploring anyone who will listen in the Trump administration to stop sending this man out as a surrogate. He is scaring people and doing damage to whatever message you’re trying to sell to the American public about the Iran war.”

On Chump and Netanyahu's war on Iran, Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper (NEW YORK TIMES) report, "Another American service member has died in the war with Iran, the Pentagon said on Sunday, bringing the number of American troops killed in the conflict to seven. The service member, who was not publicly identified while the military notifies relatives, was seriously injured on March 1 when Iran struck a Saudi military base where American troops were stationed, U.S. Central Command said in a statement." On the topic of the fallen, Donald Chump disgraced himself on Saturday so FOX "NEWS" worked overtime to conceal that from their viewers. Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) notes:

The network was forced to apologize for its coverage Saturday of the dignified transfer of six U.S. service members killed in Kuwait.

At the event, Trump was sporting a baseball cap, a wardrobe choice that some critics found disrespectful given the nature of the event. Fox News’ coverage of the dignified transfer, however, used footage from a different dignified transfer, and one where Trump appeared hatless.

Fox News again covered the event on Sunday, and in one segment, appeared to use the correct footage, but only clips that omitted Trump entirely.

“Fox’s dignified transfer footage now just completely excludes Trump,” wrote Acyn Torabi, the senior digital editor for Meidas Touch, in a social media post on X Sunday, alongside a clip of the new Fox News segment.

The fallen are just some of the people Chump's actions put at risk. On CBS' FACE THE NATION, Senator Tim Kaine noted the Americans stranded in the region.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, do you have an estimate on the number of Americans still stranded in the Middle East?

SENATOR TIM KAINE: It's thousands and thousands.

MARGARET BRENNAN: It is?

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Now, not every American chooses to come home.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: So, there's hundreds of thousands if you just add them all up who is coming home. I am working with the Virginians who are reaching out to my office. We were able to facilitate one Richmond area resident getting home from Dubai on a flight a couple of days back. And so it's sort of dealing with that. But what worries me a little bit more is that some of the professionals at embassies and consuls are not being told to come home and they're sort of there and often their security presence is not what we wish it would be. So, we have to pay close attention to them.

Chump put no time into planning this war, he just rushed to join Netanyahu.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You're on Armed Services as well.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The Pentagon may be looking at a supplemental budget request to fund this new war in the Middle East. CSIS estimates the first 100 hours of the war cost nearly $4 billion.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Have you heard an estimate on cost? Where are we on this supplemental? Will it get any Democratic support?

SENATOR TIM KAINE: We don't know that the White House is sending a supplemental. So, we had a classified briefing the other day and the topic came up. What I can say, and it's not classified, is the administration said they haven't made a decision. My goals right now are two-fold. Stop this war, which I view as both illegal and profoundly unwise, and protect our troops. If a supplemental comes over, I'm going to be looking to see, OK, how does it square with those goals? Protecting the troops is key. That's one of the reasons I want to stop the war. I think they're just exposed to a completely unnecessary risk by what President Trump has done. So, we'll look at a supplemental, if they send one –

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: To see, OK, how does it accomplish those goals.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Did they tell you what that's dependent on? Why don't they know if they need more money? Is it the duration of the time of the conflict or –

SENATOR TIM KAINE: I think that's the issue. You traditionally don't ask for a supplemental halfway through because you might ask for an inadequate amount. You might not – I think they may not want to ask for a supplemental because they're trying to avoid debates and votes in Congress on the Iran war right now.

I put up a war powers vote that I was –

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: That I lost earlier this week. But I can assure you, I'm not going away. We have other means to have a debate and discussion about whether this war is in the U.S.' interest after 25 years of war in the Middle East.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: They may want to avoid a vote on that and are trying to delay it for that reason.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

SENATOR TIM KAINE: They'll make that call and we have to look at the content.

On the topic of money, the war has resulted in the increase of the price of oil. Rebecca F. Elliott and Joe Rennison (NEW YORK TIMES) note

Oil prices surged on Sunday evening, briefly topping $110 a barrel soon after markets opened, in a sign of growing concern that the war in the Middle East will continue to take a toll on energy supplies.

It was the first time in almost four years that the global oil benchmark, known as Brent, cost more than $100 a barrel. Oil is now around 50 percent more expensive than it was before the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on Feb. 28.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Members urge State Department to take immediate action to evacuate U.S. citizens abroad

“The early failures of the Trump Administration to provide protection for American citizens abroad are inexcusable”

“[T]he failure to adequately protect [embassy staff] from this war shows blatant disregard for them and for the U.S. citizens they help to serve”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led the entire Massachusetts delegation in pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to explain the Trump administration’s “complete failure” to evacuate U.S. citizens — including Massachusetts residents — from the Middle East following the administration’s starting a reckless war in Iran.

“The early failures of the Trump administration to provide protection for American citizens abroad are inexcusable,” wrote the lawmakers. “We urge the State Department to take immediate action to support the evacuations of American citizens and provide protection for personnel in U.S. embassies throughout the Middle East.”

Following the administration's joint strikes with Israel against Iran on February 28, the State Department put out an alert on March 2 for U.S. citizens to “DEPART NOW” from over a dozen countries in the Middle East “due to serious safety risks.” By the time the Department issued the evacuation order, much of the region’s airspace was already fully or partially closed, significantly limiting options for U.S. citizens to evacuate.

Despite the evacuation warnings, the Trump administration appears to be leaving Americans on their own to scramble to get to safety. It was not until several days into the war and after Iran had conducted multiple retaliatory strikes against nine countries in the region that the White House announced it was working to evacuate Americans. The administration went on to issue “confusing signals” about whether U.S. citizens can get help.

On March 3, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem tweeted that it was “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” The State Department posted later that afternoon that the government was “actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East.”

Yet, multiple reports indicate that when Americans called the number that the State Department directed them to for departure assistance for at least several hours after this announcement, they received a message stating: “Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time. There are currently no United States evacuation points.”

“Up to one million U.S. nationals are reportedly living in the Middle East, and the Trump administration’s failures to prepare to evacuate them after the administration and Israel launched a war against Iran puts these citizens’ lives at risk,” wrote the lawmakers. “Additionally, the Trump administration and State Department appear ill-prepared for attacks targeting U.S. embassy personnel, despite the administration having spent months planning Operation Epic Fury.”

On March 3, President Trump admitted the administration had no evacuation plans for Americans abroad because “it all happened very quickly.”

“[T]his debacle is a predictable consequence of the Trump administration’s dismantlement of the State Department,” noted the lawmakers.

In July 2025, the State Department fired over 1,300 employees, including over 1,100 civil servants and nearly 250 foreign service officers as part of its reorganization directed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Department also recalled almost 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and senior embassy posts across the world in December 2025. This included the ambassador to Egypt, who has not yet been replaced, and is one of the countries from which Americans have been urged to evacuate. The U.S. also has no confirmed ambassadors in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Algeria, Libya, and Iraq.

The Trump administration also appears unprepared to protect and evacuate U.S. embassy staff. The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was reportedly hit by multiple drone strikes that “caus[ed] part of its roof to collapse,” and the U.S. consulate in the United Arab Emirates also reportedly was struck by a drone in its parking lot. Officials also reportedly “expect[] the U.S. death toll to rise, and that some of those deaths could be the result of Iran’s targeting of embassies.”

“[These challenges] raise serious concerns about the Trump administration and State Department’s failure to adequately plan to protect State Department employees…the failure to adequately protect them from this war shows blatant disregard for them and for the U.S. citizens they help to serve,” wrote the lawmakers.

“Americans abroad rely on the State Department when they need help overseas — particularly when the United States has started a war that could result in a diplomatic and national security quagmire,” concluded the lawmakers.

The coalition pressed Secretary Rubio and the State Department for real plans to help American citizens evacuate the Middle East, as well as to explain any involvement it had in the planning for Operation Epic Fury and what steps it took to prepare for evacuating American citizens from the region and to protect U.S. embassy personnel, within one week, by March 12, 2026.

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Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Perks Of The Job" went up Friday afternoon and the following sites updated: