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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks with reporters during a press conference in the Ohio Clock Corridor of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. At left is Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans and a single Democrat blocked a War Powers Resolution Wednesday aimed at limiting President Donald Trump’s joint war with Israel in Iran that has taken the lives of six American troops and killed top Iranian leaders. The resolution failed  47-52, with Sen. Rand Paul, R- Ky., the only Republican to cosponsor the measure, joining Democrats in challenging Trump’s war in Iran.  Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the lone Democrat to break with his party and vote against moving ahead with the  measure . The vote came five days after Trump ordered the military to join Israel in surprise strikes on Iran that killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pe...

Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur (top) listens to Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Jan. 14, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Judiciary Committee Wednesday passed a bill sponsored by Orr that makes second and subsequent convictions for stalking a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector). An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved a bill that would make it second and subsequent convictions for stalking a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. SB 273 , sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, makes second and subsequent stalking charges punishable by up to ten years in prison. The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill with no discussion. The bill passed the Senate on Feb. 24. Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, carried the bill in Orr’s absence. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Current law does not have a penalty for subsequent stalking charges, but...

Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster (left) speaks with Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City (right) on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 19, 2026, at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Butler proposed a bill aimed at addressing high energy rates in the state, requiring the Public Service Commission to hold rate case hearings every three years, something that has not happened since 1982. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee delayed consideration of a bill Wednesday aimed at increasing regulation of utilities after the sponsor introduced a version with explicit requirements for the Public Service Commission (PSC) to hold legal hearings on rates.  HB 475 , sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would require the PSC to hold annual rate hearings for each regulated utility. The legislation was filed amid growing public frustration over high power bills and after an attempt to end elections to the PSC floundered in the Sen...

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, speaks as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee March 3, 2026. Tillis is among the lawmakers who have criticized Noem's handling of immigration enforcement. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee mounted unusually blunt criticisms of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a tense five-hour hearing Tuesday, with North Carolina’s Thom Tillis threatening to obstruct the chamber’s business if Noem did not answer questions from his office about immigration enforcement.  Tillis even revisited a book written by Noem in which she famously detailed shooting a pet dog as well as a goat, comparing her actions in that instance with drawing too-hasty conclusions in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration agents in Minneapolis. The oversight hearing was Noem’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since ...

An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes, on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he “might have forced Israel’s hand” in launching the war on Iran that has already cost the lives of six American troops.  Trump’s statement came less than a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the United States joined the campaign to protect American troops after Israel’s planned strike. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first,” Trump told reporters. “… and I didn’t want that to happen. So if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand, but Israel was ready, and we were ready, and we’ve had a very, very powerful impact, because virtually everything they have has been knocked out.” Trump made the comments prior to a bilateral White House meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as...

A gas pump is seen in a vehicle on Nov. 26, 2025, in Austin, Texas. Gas prices rose Tuesday after the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline topped $3 Tuesday for the first time this year, and is expected to keep going up. The average price Tuesday was $3.11, up about 11 cents from Monday, according to AAA. “The pump reaction is not only underway — it’s accelerating,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, which tracks prices. Increases were already on tap even before Saturday’s U.S.-Israel strikes at Iran, as warmer weather usually means more demand and refiners start producing a summer-blend product. But the attack adds new, powerful momentum to the price surge. The war makes it tough to forecast how long any increases will last or how big they could be. Recent experience does offer some hope that any big spike won’t last. “While oil markets continue to react to pot...