Friday, July 24, 2026

What is happening at the Pentagon? DoD lowers Iran war death toll despite recent soldier deaths

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Trump PANICS in AM and THREATENS WORLD WAR

 

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The Snapshot

Friday, July 24, 2026.  Chump is losing it as midterms loom and the Iran War continues, Markwayne Mullen is getting on Chump's bad side, Pete Hegseth becomes a bigger nightmare, Chump wants to turn Saudi Arabia into a nuclear power, and much more. 


This morning Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) explains the state of Chump's deranged mind.



The war continues with no end in sight.  No plan either.  Except maybe to wreck the economy.  Laura Stevens (NEW YORK TIMES) notes, "Global oil prices hovered around $100 a barrel on Friday in choppy trading, after continued strikes by Iran and the United States fueled investor concerns that the widening conflict could throttle energy shipments from the region indefinitely." NYT's Tony Romm reports:

A widening military conflict with Iran entered a dangerous new phase this week, spooking energy markets and sending global oil prices to $100 a barrel. The anxiety spilled into gas prices, which topped $4 a gallon in much of the country, according to AAA. And the tumult coincided with the return of Mr. Trump’s trade brinkmanship, as the White House formalized a slate of new tariffs on dozens of countries on Friday.

The duties apply to some of the largest U.S. trade partners, including the members of the European Union, and they are expected to be the first of more to come. Tariffs are taxes that apply to imported goods, so again the president’s actions threatened to raise costs for some American companies and consumers.

The forces, taken together, complicated the nation’s economic outlook in familiar ways. Once, economists figured that an end to the hostilities in the Middle East would spell a gradual return to normal. Instead, the renewed fighting cast those assumptions into doubt, leaving the nation’s long, hard fight against inflation as vexing as ever.

“The longer the war is in place, at this current level of intensity, the worse it is for consumers,” said Olu Sonola, the head of U.S. economics at Fitch Ratings.


Yes, the midterms are looming.  102 days until November 3rd.  That's election day.  Of course, early voting starts sooner.  In New York, for example, it's October 24th that early voting kicks off.  And that is influencing a few members in Congress.  Zachary Leeman (MEDIAITE) notes:

Four House Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday in a vote to restrict President Donald Trump’s war powers as the Iran conflict drags on.

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Tom Barrett (R-MI) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) crossed party lines and supported the war powers resolution which calls for a halt to the war. The Senate is also expected to consider a similar resolution later in the day.

The House resolution, calling for congressional approval for the war, passed in a 214-208 vote.

CNN’s Lauren Fox reported on the vote and noted that support for these resolutions is largely symbolic and non-binding and used to send a message to the White House. She added that Republican lawmakers are growing concerned with the unpopularity of the war and how it will influence their reelection chances.


And those  Republicans aren't the only ones sensing the mood of the country.  On polling, Josh Fiallo (DAILY BEAST) reports: 

President Donald Trump’s growing unpopularity has thrust Democrats into a massive lead over Republicans in a major new poll.

A national Emerson survey has found that Democrats are enjoying an 11-point lead over Republicans on a generic congressional ballot, which simply asks voters whether they will vote for the Republican or Democrat in their local House race.
The positive movement for Democrats is up three points from Emerson’s survey last month and should set off alarm bells at the RNC, which is staring down the possibility of losing majorities in both the House and Senate just over 100 days from Election Day.

The prediction market Kalshi gives Dems an 83 percent chance of winning a majority in the House and a 44 percent chance of doing the same in the Senate—way up from the 18 percent chance Dems were given to flip the Senate when Trump was sworn in for his second term.

With more bad news for Chump, Anna Commander (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Democrats have regained an advantage on one of the country’s most pressing political issues—the economy—a new Fox News poll released on Wednesday shows. According to the July 2026 survey, Democrats now hold their strongest lead over Republicans since 2006 on registered voters’ trust in handling the economy, marking a notable shift in public opinion.
The findings from the conservative news outlet come as economic concerns continue dominating voters’ priorities ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with inflation, affordability and household finances remaining central issues.

The poll also found President Donald Trump’s overall approval rating still underwater, with particularly weak marks on his handling of the economy. While the fight against crime remains among Trump’s comparatively stronger issues, voters expressed growing dissatisfaction with rising costs and say inflation has caused them hardship.



Midterms are often viewed as a referendum on the sitting president, and the party in the White House historically suffers losses. President Donald Trump saw Democrats flip 47 House seats in the 2018 midterms during his first term in office.

Trump’s approval rating has slipped since his return to the Oval Office as poll respondents cite cost of living as a top concern. In the Emerson poll, for instance, Trump’s approval rating sat at only 39 percent, while 57 percent disapproved of his job performance.

Democrats believe the sliding approval gives them an opening to win back swing voters and flip control of both chambers.


Chump is growing unhinged over the upcoming elections -- he's snapping at Republicans in the Senate, he's issuing one lie after another, he's lost it. 




Chump is freaking out over his inability to end the war on Iran as elections loom. Kathleen Culliton (RAW STORY) notes: 

President Donald Trump recently threw a curse-riddled temper tantrum inside the Oval Office over his own failure end the war in Iran, according to an inside source.

Trump called Iranian leaders "scumbags" and lunatics" and was heard "unleashing a series of expletives," the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday night.

Trump is increasingly frustrated that a conflict he once thought would be over in a matter of weeks has dragged on with no end in sight," the Wall Street Journal reported.

"Some of Trump’s advisers now worry that the war—which has resulted in higher prices, falling approval ratings and the deaths of more than a dozen U.S. servicemembers—is consuming his presidency."

Trump's frustration stems from his growing fear that he cannot negotiate the lasting peace he promised the American people after launching a war without Congressional permission he promised would only last would last “four to five weeks,” the Journal reported.




The tariffs and the war on Iran have wrecked the economy; however, other factors -- actions Chump has taken -- have harmed the economy as well.  That would include Chump's war on immigrants.  Jill Keppeler (UPI) notes how Chump's attack on immigrants has caused "economic shock" in Los Angeles: 

Latino-owned businesses in areas targeted by federal immigration raids last year in Los Angeles County suffered an "immediate economic shock" as well as lasting effects, a report released Wednesday says.

The surge in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June 2025 created a "chilling effect" that drove customers from businesses anchoring the county's commercial corridors serving Latino and immigrant communities, the study says.
The authors of the report used focus groups and entrepreneur surveys, as well as data on foot traffic. They said businesses closest to the raid sites were hit hardest. In two weeks, businesses in the nine sites studied had 46,000 fewer customer visits and an estimated $3.16 million in accumulated losses.

The authors note that those estimates only include "formal" businesses and not street vendors, home-based businesses and food trucks, common Latino small businesses.

In surveys, 59% of business owners reported that sales dropped by more than 50%, 68% temporarily closed and 51% had staff miss work out of fear.



Migrant workers like Lorenzo Salgado Araujo have helped drive the Texas economy for the past century and arguably since 1821.
Texas employers have relied on cheap migrant labor for decades, if not centuries. Legal and undocumented immigrants built this state, whether it was recent arrivals from Central America, Mexicans from the last century, or European refugees in the mid-1800s - or even white Americans illegally entering Texas when it was part of Mexico.
Yet many Texans, fired up by race-baiting politicians, are ready to throw economic growth away, and President Donald Trump is ready to make that sacrifice. Current immigration policies have shaved 0.2% off of gross domestic product and reduced consumer spending by $60 billion in 2025, Yale University researchers found.
Since Trump took office, Texas job growth has slowed from an average of 2% a year to .01% in 2025, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank reported. New immigration policies restraining the labor supply help explain why Texas only added 10,000 new jobs last year.


ICE?  How's it doing in terms of the administration?  How's it pleasing Chump?   Zachary Leeman (MEDIAITE) reports: 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is facing “growing tensions” with White House officials just months into his role, according to a new report.

NBC News’ Julia Ainsley and Gabe Gutierrez reported exclusively on Thursday, citing a senior official with President Donald Trump’s administration and a senior DHS official, that Mullin has managed to ruffle feathers and irk the administration multiple times after just four months with DHS.
Mullin reportedly first ran into trouble after pausing ICE’s vehicle stops policy following fatal shootings in Texas and Maine. Trump quickly and publicly reversed that decision because Mullin never got approval through the White House, according to the administration official.

“Every Cabinet secretary knows that they have to come to the White House for major policy decisions,” the source said. “The president sees, hears, reads everything.”

Mullin also “misspoke” during a CNN interview recently when discussing a Supreme Court ruling on protected status for immigrants from Haiti and Syria, saying hundreds of thousands could apply for legal status when they could not. This, according to the report, was “annoying” to some in the administration.

The DHS secretary has also reportedly raised concerns with the nomination of Lance Schroyer as ICE director. The former incident commander with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is a longtime ally of Mullin, but some are concerned he lacks the proper experience for the ICE director role.

Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) adds, "Trump’s border czar Tom Homan and others 'aren’t particularly thrilled with him,' NBC’s source said, believing that Schroyer lacks the necessary experience."   And the mood within ICE?  Not good.  Not good at all.  Zachary Leeman (MEDIAITE) notes:

ICE officers described the agency as a “powder keg ready to blow” in a new lengthy report that includes accusations of pushing untrained officers onto the streets and pushing employees to exhaustion.

The Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli and Christian Datoc reported on Wednesday — citing “current ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers, as well as retired senior ICE officials still dialed into daily operations” — that morale at ICE has fallen “lower” than it was under former President Joe Biden.
“No one is happy. If you hear [Border Czar] Tom Homan saying, ‘Morale’s stronger than ever,’ I say, ‘No, it’s not. No, it’s not.’ I see it. I’ve been out in the field. I see it. I’ve seen senior officers quit,” one ICE officer told the outlet.

Another officer with more than a decade of experience said people are “being pushed to a breaking point. I don’t know where it will go, but it’s nowhere good.”



Mullen is muddling through -- at best -- as Secretary of Homeland Security.  How are others in the administration doing? 


Senior officials have been deserting Donald Trump’s second presidential administration at a record rate far exceeding the turnover during his first term in office, new figures show.
The exodus has seen 27 Senate-confirmed officials leave their positions in the last 18 months, up from 11 over the same period in his first term, according to an analysis from the Partnership for Public Service, reported by The Hill.
The figures show the number of officials leaving their jobs during Trump 2.0 is six times higher than the average number during the first 18 months under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.


And they've put someone on leave at the Pentagon. Giulia Carbonaro (NEWSWEEK) reports:

A senior Pentagon official has been placed on leave after he was secretly filmed criticizing President Donald Trump’s administration and the changes it has implemented at the Department of Defense.

Right-wing activist James O’Keefe released a video on Wednesday reportedly showing Brandon Newsom, a senior official in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, being filmed with a hidden camera. Newsweek has not independently verified the footage.
In the footage, Newsom can be heard saying that he wanted to “stay and stick it out” at the Pentagon, adding: “So that way, when the time comes, I can undo whatever’s been done [by the Trump administration].” When asked about what he would undo, he talked of “a lot of times” when working at the Pentagon “challenges my morals,” saying he would not have “one specific prayer service” and undo employee “schedule policy.”

He also called Trump “a textbook narcissist” and described the Iran war as “completely stupid” and “driven by one man’s ego.”








With a serial liar in the Oval Office, truth is not to be tolerated.  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth understands that and he's thrived as a result in Chump's eyes.  Lucy Strathmore (2PARAGRAPHS) reports that's not the case for everyone:

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who has opposed the U.S. war against Iran since its beginning in February, slammed President Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week for asking Congress for an additional $500 billion in Pentagon funding.

[NOTE: Hegseth testified this week at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that the war in Iran has so far cost the U.S. $37.5 billion, which many critics believe vastly underestimates the price tag. Stephen Semler, co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute (SPRI), assessed the cost at $103 billion.]
As seen below on Bloomberg, Paul said of the Department of Defense budget and Hegseth: “We currently spend a trillion. He wants $1.5 T. That’s a $500B increase.”

Paul added: “No one in the history of the country has ever asked for this much money. This is more money than — you can’t even print that fast. It threatens our country. You know, the biggest threat we have right now is our debt. We are more in danger of devaluing our currency than Iran invading the United States.”

Paul isn't the only Republican member of Congress feeling wary about Hegseth.  Alexander Bolton  (THE HILL) notes:

Senate Republicans are growing increasingly concerned about what they say is a lack of a clear plan to end the military conflict with Iran, warning that rising U.S. casualties and stubbornly high gas prices are going to hurt their party in the midterm election.

GOP lawmakers came away dissatisfied from a hearing Tuesday at which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified in support of the administration’s request for another $80 billion in emergency funding for the Iran war.
[. . .]

A Republican senator who requested anonymity said that the conflict’s impact on gas prices is a huge political problem for GOP candidates heading into the November election.

“People are worried about it because otherwise they’d be cheerleading,” the GOP lawmaker said. “Nobody wants to be critical.

“Gas prices are high,” the senator added. “That’s a big worry.”  



On Tuesday afternoon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testified to Congress about the war with Iran, which, after four months of fighting and a highly touted ceasefire, has since devolved into a series of tit-for-tat attacks. When Hegseth wasn’t blaming former President Joe Biden for allegedly bequeathing him a toothless fighting force, he repeatedly claimed that the “overarching objective” of the Iran war is “ensuring Iran never has a nuclear weapon.”
It’s an assertion that administration officials have made since the day the war began, yet it doesn’t appear to be remotely true — and Democrats need to be saying it more loudly. 

This is not to say that the U.S. doesn’t want to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb — it’s that the war the U.S. is actually waging has virtually nothing to do with Iran’s nuclear program.

Indeed, from the earliest days of the war, U.S. military strikes have been focused primarily on Iran’s leadership, its conventional military capabilities and its military-industrial base. Few if any of the attacks targeted Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. 

Relying on U.S. classified assessments, Reuters reported in May that Iran’s nuclear capabilities are largely unchanged since last summer, when U.S. and Israeli planes attacked Iran’s nuclear reactors and enrichment facilities. But Iran is still approximately a year away from building a bomb, according to three sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters.
Any effort to restart the program was made more difficult by last June’s U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, which — lest we forget — President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted “obliterated” the country’s nuclear program. 


Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's purge high-ranking military officers has ousted officers speaking out about their serious concerns with his leadership, according to a new report.

Former officers, who say they were forced to retire after questioning command decisions, are now determined to go on the record despite a sense of loyalty to the organization, MS NOW's Priya Sridhar reported Thursday.
“For many of us, part of it is a sense of loyalty to the organization that is bigger than these clowns," one officer told Sridhar. "We know that in the organization, there are still good people trying to do good things and we don’t want to say things that might hurt them."

Among their concerns is the ousting of Gen. Christopher Donahue, the final soldier to leave Afghanistan in a retreat that Hegseth has repeatedly attacked as "humiliating."
An officer argued to MS NOW that it was hypocritical of Hegseth to claim his focus is on warfighters and then remove people like Donahue.

"[Hegseth] is intimidated by people who have real warfighting background and don’t just talk about the warrior ethos,” the former officer said, adding, “I think he just can’t stand people around who will call him on his b-------.”


At the heart of the conflict with Iran, Chump insists, is the nuclear capabilities of Iran.  Yet at the same time, he's announced the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia on nuclear. 





How may Iranians were among the hijackers on 9/11?

Oh, that's right: Zero. 

How many were from Saudi Arabia?

15.

Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. 


President Trump went to war with Iran in part to force compliance with two longstanding American demands: Tehran must stop enriching nuclear fuel for at least two decades, and it must allow international inspectors to go anywhere and see anything to verify the country is not producing a bomb.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump took the reverse approach to Saudi Arabia, its close ally in the region. To seal a deal for Westinghouse and other American companies to seize a big piece of the business in building two nuclear reactors on Saudi territory — and more to come — it opened the door to allowing the kingdom to begin enriching its own nuclear fuel after two years.

And it gave in to the kingdom’s demand that it not have to abide by an inspection agreement that applies to more than 140 other countries. Those rules, the Saudis said, are just too intrusive.

Now Mr. Trump will have to make the case to Congress, and to allies throughout the Middle East, that in loosening the nuclear standards for one close ally, he is not ushering in a new age of proliferation, especially in a region of the world already on fire. If the daily missile exchanges with Iran finally give way to resumed negotiations, there is no question Iran will seize on the concessions made to Riyadh and insist on the same.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

The Senators’ Right to IVF Act reintroduction comes nearly two years since Donald Trump promised free IVF for all, which he’s still failed to deliver

***WATCH and READ: Senator Murray’s remarks at a press conference introducing the Right to IVF Act***

Washington, D.C. — Nearly two years after President Donald Trump promised free IVF for all Americans on the campaign trail, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are reintroducing the Right to IVF Act, a sweeping legislative package that would make it easier to access in-vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) for the millions of hopeful parents who depend on it to build their family. This pro-family legislation would establish a nationwide right to access IVF, lower the costs of IVF treatment, expand IVF coverage for military families and require all employer-sponsored insurance programs to cover IVF.

“Republicans are not pro-family and they won’t lift a finger to help families get IVF—the Texas Republican Party just recently made banning IVF a part of their official party platform,” said Senator Murray. “I have fought for a long time to make sure at least servicemembers and veterans, especially wounded warriors, can get the IVF care they need to build a family. But the reality is that we have a Republican Speaker of the House who believes an embryo should have the same rights as an adult woman with children who count on her. America’s pro-IVF majority should wake up to the fact that Trump could not care less about IVF—he broke that promise and he is happy to let Republicans attack IVF and all of our reproductive rights. Meanwhile, Democrats are fighting to make sure all Americans can access and afford health care to build their families.”

“Almost two years after promising free IVF for all Americans if he were elected, Donald Trump has still failed to deliver,” said Senator Duckworth. “Trump and Republicans’ ‘support’ for IVF is nothing but lip service. They want us to have more babies, yet they’ll do nothing to actually help make it easier for the millions who struggle with infertility to start and grow their families. The Right to IVF Act would immediately make IVF treatment more affordable for millions of hopeful parents across the country. From middle class families, to our brave servicemembers and Veterans, to federal employees and more—every American deserves the right to access the treatment and tools they need to build the family of their dreams without burning through their savings. If Republicans really support IVF, then let’s get this done. No more delays.”

“For millions of American families, IVF isn’t politics—it’s hope,” said Senator Schumer. “Donald Trump ran on a promise that he would make IVF free, and yet he has done nothing but attack women’s reproductive rights and undermine access to fertility care—another lie in his long list of broken promises to American families. Our Right to IVF Act is essential to putting a deeply personal health care decision back in the hands of American families. While Donald Trump and Republicans erect barriers between hopeful parents and IVF, Democrats will never stop fighting to protect access so that every family can build the future they dream of.”

“No one chooses infertility,” said Senator Booker. “It’s a medical condition that leaves too many families and individuals feeling alone long before they ever seek treatment. When people turn to IVF, they’re choosing hope. They’re choosing the chance to build the family they’ve always dreamed of. But that hope comes with a price tag that is simply out of reach for far too many. The medications, procedures, and cycles can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Families and individuals already carrying the emotional weight of infertility are then hit with financial barriers that no one should have to face trying to bring a child into this world. We have to change that. We have to remove those barriers and make IVF affordable and accessible to everyone who needs it. Because the ability to build a family should not be reserved for the wealthy or the lucky, it should be within reach for us all.”

Companion legislation is being introduced in the House by U.S. Representatives Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), James Walkinshaw (D-VA-11), Rick Larsen (D-WA-02), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) and Laura Gillen (D-NY-04).

“Like so many people in our country facing fertility challenges, my husband and I turned to IVF as our last hope to have kids. After years of appointments, injections, and setbacks, and thanks to our remarkable physicians, we have two beautiful daughters,” said Rep. Trahan. “No one should lose the chance to start or grow a family because of their zip code. The Right to IVF Act guarantees the right to family-creating fertility care in every state and puts it within reach for the millions of families who need it.”

“Deciding when and how to build a family is a deeply personal choice that belongs to families, not politicians,” said Rep. Walkinshaw. “For millions struggling with infertility, IVF offers hope and a path to parenthood. I’m especially proud the Right to IVF Act includes my legislation requiring IVF coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, ensuring the federal government leads by example. I’m honored to join Senator Duckworth, Congresswoman Trahan, and this coalition to protect IVF nationwide and expand access for servicemembers, veterans, federal employees, and working families.”

“For many Americans, fertility treatments like IVF are essential to start families of their own,” said Rep. Larsen. “This comprehensive legislation will guarantee access and expand coverage for IVF and other fertility services. The legislation also includes my bill with Senator Murray, the Veteran Families Health Services Act, to ensure fertility treatments are included in servicemembers’ and veterans’ health benefits. I will keep working with my colleagues in the House and the Senate to make sure that women and men in uniform and working families do not have to sacrifice their dreams of having a family.”

“There are few experiences as hard as wanting to start a family and not being able to,” said Rep. DeLauro. “That is why I am fighting to ensure Americans have access to IVF treatments when they want to start one. I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing the Right to IVF Act – because building a family in the United States should never be difficult.”

“I am proud to help lead this critical bill ensuring millions of Americans can access IVF to build their families, no matter where they live,” said Rep. Gillen. “Families struggling to conceive go through indescribable heartbreak and stress. The last thing they should worry about is legal challenges to IVF delaying or outright halting procedures. Infertility is not a partisan issue. I will continue to work across the aisle in Congress to protect access to IVF and adjacent reproductive technologies that have helped countless individuals experience the joy of parenthood.”

Last Congress, Senate Republicans shamefully blocked the Right to IVF Act, exposing the hollowness of Republicans’ empty claims to support IVF for the millions of Americans who rely on it to build their family. This marked the fourth time Senate Republicans blocked Duckworth-led legislation that would protect access to IVF nationwide, with previous instances including her Access to Family Building Act that builds on previous legislation she introduced in 2022.

While Senate Democrats continue their efforts to protect IVF and reproductive freedom, Senate Republicans continue making it abundantly clear through their anti-choice extremism and record Medicaid cuts that they would rather undermine access to basic health care for millions of Americans than make it easier for their constituents to start and build a family.

Building on the lawmakers’ previous efforts to protect and strengthen access to IVF, this pro-family, pro-freedom legislative package includes:

  • Senator Murray’s Veteran Families Health Services Act, which would expand the fertility treatments and family-building services that are covered under servicemembers’ and veterans’ health care to include—among other things—the option for individuals to cryopreserve their gametes (freeze their eggs or sperm) ahead of deployment to a combat zone and IVF for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance.
  • Senator Duckworth’s Protect IVF Act, which would establish a nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other ART services, a right for doctors to provide IVF treatment in accordance with medical standards as well as a right for insurance carriers to cover IVF without prohibition, limitation, interference or impediment. By establishing a statutory right, this would pre-empt any state effort to limit such access and ensuring no hopeful parent—or their doctors—are punished for trying to start or grow a family.
  • Senator Booker’s Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act, which would increase affordability of fertility care—including IVF—by requiring employer-sponsored insurance plans and public insurance plans to cover fertility treatments. Additionally, it would standardize a baseline of high-quality fertility treatment coverage under private health insurance plans, while protecting Americans against excessive out-of-pocket costs.
  • Senator Duckworth’s Family Building FEHB Fairness Act, which would require Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program—the largest employer-sponsored health insurance plan in the world—carriers to cover IVF and ART to help more hardworking Americans start and grow their families.

In addition to Murray, Duckworth, Booker and Schumer, the legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—and advocating for women veterans and their access to reproductive health care has been a longtime focus for Senator Murray. Senator Murray called on VA to provide abortion care to veterans early in the Biden administration, and she applauded the Biden administration’s announcement later in the year that would begin to provide abortion care for veterans and their eligible dependents to protect the health and life of the individual and in cases of rape or incest. Murray has helped lead the charge in calling out Republicans for their attacks on, and attempts to undo, this limited and commonsense policy.

Senator Murray leads the Veteran Families Health Services Act, comprehensive legislation that would expand fertility treatments—including IVF—and family-building services for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance, and she has sought unanimous consent to pass the legislation on multiple occasions. She introduced new legislation last summer with Senator Duckworth to help cover IVF costs for servicemembers and military families—and slammed Speaker Johnson for working behind the scenes to strip an amendment mirroring that legislation from the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026. Senator Murray voted against the NDAA earlier this month, citing—among other things—the failure to include her provision to expand IVF care for servicemembers and veterans. Senator Murray slammed the Trump administration’s initial move to ban abortion care at VA in August, and sounded the alarm again in December when the Trump administration quietly implemented a near-total abortion ban at VA.

Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.

The Right to IVF Act is supported by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), RESOLVE: The National Infertility and Family Building Association, Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD Law), Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, Stand with IVF, AllPaths Family Building, American Association of People with Disabilities, American Atheists, Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Society for Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, Society of Reproductive Biologists & Technologists, Society for Reproductive Surgeons, California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, Endocrine Society, Equality California, Families USA, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, Guttmacher Institute, Hadassah, Human Rights Campaign, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, Indivisible, Justice + Joy National Collaborative, Legal Momentum, Military Family Building Coalition, MomsRising, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Council on Jewish Women, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Women’s Political Caucus, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Reproductive Freedom for All, Service Women’s Action Network, Silver State Equality, What to Expect Project and Women’s March.

“The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) welcomes the bicameral reintroduction of the Right to IVF Act, which would achieve accessible and affordable fertility care for all Americans,” said ASRM Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer Sean Tipton. “This visionary and comprehensive effort would protect patients’ ability to build their families through safe, evidence-based treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF). By safeguarding access to assisted reproductive technology (ART), preserving the physician-patient relationship, and expanding coverage for the individuals and families who need it most, this legislation reflects the standard of care that all patients deserve.”

“No one should have to wonder whether they’ll be able to access the care they need to build their family,” said Danielle Melfi, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility and Family Building Association. “By safeguarding the right to IVF and expanding insurance coverage for veterans, federal employees, and the individuals and families who need it most, this legislation reflects a comprehensive commitment to helping more people build the families they dream of. RESOLVE applauds Senator Duckworth and the bill’s sponsors for continuing to put patients and families first.”

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