The Iran war is costing taxpayers up to $3 billion per month as Democrats make it a campaign issue

The war in Iran is costing the United States up to $3 billion per month and has tallied more than $38 billion in direct costs to the government since it began more than six months ago and became a flashpoint in voters’ frustrations over rising prices, according to a new and nonpartisan analysis requested by U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D.-Phila.

The estimate, released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office, mostly represents munitions expenses as of Aug. 1. It does not include some other direct and indirect costs — such as the spike in gas prices felt by consumers — that likely make the total price tag for Americans far higher.

But with the war on the minds of voters during the midterm elections this fall, the latest tally is the one of the clearest signs yet of the conflict’s impact on taxpayers.

“It is now concrete evidence that when the administration was pretending like there wasn’t going to be a real cost to this war, they were wrong,” Boyle said in an interview Tuesday. “We have now paid $40 billion, and climbing, on the most reckless decision to go to war of at least my lifetime. So as the people go to the polls this November, they need to recognize that if they are voting for the president’s party, they’re voting for more of this.”

—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Patel won’t rule out FBI at the polls on Election Day

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel refused to say whether agents would be present at the polls during the midterm elections in a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Tuesday.

The comments came as members from both parties questioned Patel over issues ranging from elections to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and a bizarre exchange over bestiality in FBI hiring.

During the hearing, Patel repeatedly clashed with Democrats on the panel over whether the FBI would deploy agents to polling places on Election Day or otherwise interfere in the midterm elections. Multiple times Patel said he would not commit to keeping agents away from the polls, despite a federal law that prohibits armed federal agents at election sites.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said the risk of election interference is “existential” to the country. “This is about whether the United States citizens — Republicans, Democrats, independents — are the deciders of elections,” Welch said.

—CQ-Roll Call

Survey asks about Fresno candidate’s age, religion, turban. Called out as ‘racist’

FRESNO, Calif. — Are Nav Gurm’s age and heritage issues in a Fresno City Council race? A recent survey wants to know.

Voters in District 7 — east-central Fresno — received a Survey Monkey poll in the first week of September, conducted by Political Opinion Research. Among the 18 questions asked, the survey wanted to know “does a candidate’s religious background or traditional cultural attire, such as a turban, affect your willingness to vote for that candidate?”

It also asks “would a candidate being 26 years old make you more likely or less likely to support them?” Gurm, 26, an attorney, is the only candidate fitting those descriptions. He is running against community advocate Ariana Martinez Lott, 39, for the open District 7 seat. They are former City Hall staffers.

Current District 7 Councilmember Nelson Esparza is terming out. Both candidates told The Fresno Bee separately that the survey did not come from them. The candidates each condemned the survey question, calling it racist. Gurm would be the first Fresno councilmember of Sikh heritage.

—The Fresno Bee

NATO shoots down drone that entered Lithuanian airspace

NATO jets shot down an unidentified drone that flew into Lithuanian airspace from neighboring Belarus, the latest incursion on the alliance’s eastern flank amid rising concerns of Russia’s war on Ukraine spilling over into Europe.

“Even though the war seems to be taking place a thousand kilometers away from Lithuania, its scale is still large and extensive,” Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas told national broadcaster LRT Tuesday. “Russia’s unwillingness to come to peace negotiations affects the security of the Baltic region.”

The drone was intercepted five kilometers from a hydroelectric power plant near Pratkunai in central Lithuania, state energy company Ignitis Group said. Air alerts sounded over the capital Vilnius and the country’s second-largest city Kaunas before the drone was brought down. The Lithuanian military later found and neutralized explosives at the site, Kaunas said on social media.

“Once we have traced the drone’s flight path, we will be able to determine clearly whether this was a Russian drone — potentially a provocation — or a defensive drone belonging to another country,” Kaunas said after a meeting with his Italian counterpart at Siauliai airbase, where the Italian jets that intercepted the drone are stationed.

—Bloomberg News