NPR News: 07-23-2026 5AM EDT

Dave Mattingly· Host0:01

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen say they've attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, while Iran says it launched more drones at American military bases in Kuwait today. There's no word on any casualties. This as U.S. Central Command says American forces attacked Iranian targets for a twelfth consecutive night. This follows President Trump's threat issued yesterday saying the U.S. military would bomb and destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant anytime Iran attacks a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon says the strait remains open to commercial ship traffic amid the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. AAA says regular gasoline in the U.S. is back up to four dollars nine cents a gallon on average amid the fighting in the Middle East. The House has passed three pieces of legislation and sent them to the Senate before lawmakers leave Washington for a month-long recess. They include a defense bill costing more than a trillion dollars sought by President Trump. The House also passed a budget framework, which includes more money for the war with Iran, as well as new restrictions on congressional stock trading. NPR's Eric McDaniel says the Senate won't consider any of the bills as written.

Eric McDaniel1:16

Bills generally need sixty votes in order to pass in the Senate, and that means that two of these, which lack substantial Democratic support, are dead on arrival there. Even Democratic military boosters have spoken out against the trillion-dollar National Defense Authorization Act,