News On Tap For Monday, March 23, 2026

Republicans Can’t Govern Well

There’s a touch of March Madness in today’s “News On Tap” - & we definitely didn’t ask for ICE at the airport. We’ve got news updates on Trump’s pointless Iran war, the costs of that war, and the next war - in Cuba - that Trump wants to have. We’ve also got updates on Trump’s immigration wars & the stupid DHS shutdown showdown (That Democrats keep trying to end). The illegitimate Supreme Court was attacking voting today, and Donald Trump showed us all who he was as he attacked the still-warm corpse of Robert Mueller over the weekend. Thankfully, there’s some good news in Media Matters & in the Entertainment sections today. Plus, Brooklyn Dad Defiant is back to talk about all that & more. Read up, get informed, & we’ll see you tonight!

First Round - Trump's Stupid Foreign Wars

Trump’s Pointless Iran War

• Live Updates: Trump Says He’s Postponing Attacks On Iran Power Plants For 5 Days, Claiming ‘Productive’ Talks To End War; Iran Denies Any Talks Have Occurred, Says Trump Is Trying To Manipulate Energy Markets

• Weekend Recap: Iran & U.S. Trade Threats To Attack Power Plants & Keep Strait Of Hormuz Closed As War Enters Fourth Week

• Weekend Recap: Tehran Strikes Near Israeli Nuclear Center As Trump Threatens Attacks On Iranian Power Plants

• Analysis: Energy Attacks In War On Iran Could Turn Economic Shock Into Long-Term Damage

• Phil Klay: Trump & Hegseth’s Fundamental Miscalculations On Iran Prove They Do Not Know How To Properly Wield The Power Of The United States

The Costs Of War

• Trump Regime Lifts Sanctions On Iranian Oil At Sea, As Oil Prices Soar

• New Analysis Shows Iranian Strikes On Bases Used By U.S. In The Middle East Caused $800m In Damage So Far

• Economists Say Economic Shocks Of Trump’s War On Iran Will Likely Reverberate For Months, & In Some Cases Years

• Nicholas Kristof: Iran Is A $1.3-Million-A-Minute Pointless War [Gift Link]

Trump’s Next War, In Cuba

• Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Says Its Military Is Now Preparing For Possible ‘Aggression’ From The U.S.

• Cuba Rejects U.S. Embassy Request To Bring In Fuel, Calls It ‘Shameless’

• Trump - And Rubio - Already Have Their Eyes On Regime Change In Cuba [Gift Link]

Second Round - Republicans Can't Govern

Immigration Wars

• Labor Shortage Expected Nationwide For Spring & Summer Construction Season After Trump Administration’s Past Year Of Immigration Enforcement

• Trump’s DOJ Attempts To Move Ahead (Again) With Deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia To Liberia As Soon As A Court Allows

Shutdown Showdown Continues

• TSA Lines Stretch For Hours As Trump Deploys ICE Agents To Some U.S. Airports

• What Exactly Will ICE Do At Airports? No One Seems To Know.

• Pressure Builds On Congress As DHS Shutdown Threatens To Drag Into April

• Senate Republicans Block Senate Democratic Bills To Fund TSA, Other Parts Of DHS For The 9th Time

• Trump Killed Senate Majority Leader Thune’s Plan To Fund TSA, In Attempt To Strongarm Democrats (That Won’t Work)

• Trump Now Insists No Shutdown Deal Until Democrats Support SAVE America Act, (Which Dems Will Never Support)

• Grace Segers: As The Iran War & TSA Crisis Prove, Trump’s Civil Service Cuts Are Now Putting Americans In Real Danger

Elsewhere in Congress

• Senate Democrats Block Bigoted Amendment To The ‘SAVE America’ Bill To Ban Trans Athletes In Women’s Sports

• Trump & MAGA Claim The SAVE America Act Is Crucial. A New Poll Shows Americans Don’t Agree.

• Navigator Research Polling: The More Americans Learn About The SAVE Act, The Less They Like It

• House Republicans Push FISA Spy Powers Section 702 Vote To April Amid Opposition From Their Own Members

• Senate Votes To Advance Mullin’s Nomination To Lead DHS To Full Senate Vote

Third Round - More News To Drink About

War In The Courts

• Live Updates: Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Mail-In Ballot Case

• Dahlia Lithwick And Mark Joseph Stern: The Sleeper Supreme Court Case That Could Smuggle Trump’s Voter Suppression Bill Into Law

• Chicago Transit Authority Sues Trump Admin. To Restore Billions In Federal Funding

• Underground Railroad Museum Sues Trump Admin. Over Grant Funds Cut Over Racial Issues

• California Jury Rules Elon Musk Misled Twitter Investors Ahead Of $44 Billion Acquisition

• David Kirp: It’s Easy To Miss – But Lower Courts Are Actually Doing Their Job In Restraining Trump

When They Show You Who They Are

• Former FBI Director And Special Counsel Robert Mueller Dies At 81

• Democrats Rightfully Blast Trump For Social Media Post Celebrating Mueller’s Death

• Garrett Graff: Remembering Robert Mueller, A Patriot & The Quintessential G-Man

Election Land

• Georgia Appeals Court Rules Fulton County Elections Board Does NOT Have To Appoint Two Republican Nominees, Likely Tamping Down Republican Challenges

• Extremist Republican California Sheriff, Now Running For Governor, Questionably Seizes More Than A Half Million Ballots From 2025 Special Election

• New Poll From The Argument Magazine: The 2026 Elections Might Be Worse For Republicans Than 2018 Was - And It’s About The Economy

Miscellaneous But Important

• Two Pilots Killed, Dozens Of Passengers Wounded After Air Canada Jet Hits Fire Truck, Forcing New York’s Laguardia Airport To Close

• Historic Hawaii Floods Leave 2,000 People Without Power

• Trump Places Statue Of Racist Colonizer Christopher Columbus Near The White House, In Front Of The EEOB

• The No Kings 3 Rally Is THIS WEEKEND! Get Prepared!

Fourth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

Rest In Peace

• Nicholas Brendon Dead: ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Star Was 54

• Valerie Perrine Dies: ‘Superman’, ‘Lenny’, ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ Actor Was 82

Media Matters

• Former CBS Star Journalist Scott Macfarlane Joining Left-Leaning Meidas Touch Network As Chief Washington Correspondent

• Federal Judge Sides With New York Times In Challenge To Policy Limiting Reporters’ Access To Pentagon

Entertainment & More

• Box Office: ‘Project Hail Mary’ Rockets To Galactic $80.6m, Year’s Top Start And An Amazon-MGM Best

• ‘Saturday Night Live UK’ Premieres With Healthy Ratings

• BTS Sets South Korean Concert Attendance Record With Netflix Special

• March Madness Surges To Its Best Tv Start Since 2011 With Viewership Up 5%

• NCAA Men’s Tournament: No. 9 Iowa Stuns No. 1 Florida, Sets Up Unlikely Sweet 16 Rubber Match With No. 4 Nebraska

• March Madness 2026: Game Times, Tv Channels For Sweet 16 Of The Men’s NCAA Tournament

• Women’s NCAA March Madness Weekend Recap: Virginia Gets Biggest First-Round Upset

• Who’s In Women’s Sweet 16? Updated NCAA Tournament Bracket, Schedule

Your Bar Regular Today

Brooklyn Dad Defiant, AKA Majid M. Padellan, is a author, activist, blogger, and host/co-host of TWO online shows – ‘The Defiant Weekly’ on Wednesdays, and ‘The JoJo & BDD Show’ with Jo Carducci on Thursdays, both available on his YouTube channel. BDD is back with us tonight, and we’ll talk about the latest on Trump’s stupid Iran war, ICE at the airports, Trump’s classless attack on Mueller, and how this is all what it looks like when a nation chooses self-destruction over progress. Plus, we’ll talk about some entertainment events too! Grab a drink & join us tonight!

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