VERBAL WARFARE: While American forces fight a war in the far side of the world, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the past two days engaged in verbal combat with Congress.

  Yesterday before a Senate Committee he repeated his charge that, “The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless naysayers and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.”

  The war powers act clearly says that the President must report any military action to Congress within 48 hours and seek congressional approval for continued action within 60 days. Given that the President notified Congress on March 2, the deadline falls today.

  Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the current ceasefire with Iran pauses the 60-day clock. The Trump administration always comes up with unique legal angles.

  Nowhere does the act say the administration can call a “time out” because there have been a few days without shooting. But the message coming out of the White house is that, “the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28 have terminated.”

 “It’s a legal stretch to say that hostilities are not ongoing when US warships are blockading the Strait of Hormuz and firing on Iranian vessels,” John Bellinger III, a former national security legal adviser for the George W. Bush administration, told The NY Times. “There continues to be a clear and present danger of armed conflict for U.S. forces.”

INFINITE SCROLL:

— Congress yesterday voted to re-open parts of the Department of Homeland Security, including the Transportation Security administration, and President Trump quickly signed the bill ending the 75-day partial shutdown that caused travel chaos.

— The national average for gasoline at the pump is $4.39 as the Iran standoff continues to choke oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. That’s up a $1.40 since the start of the Iran War.

  President Trump said yesterday, “As soon as the war’s over they’ll drop like a rock, there’s so much of it.”

— President Trump withdrew his nomination of Dr. Casey Means to be surgeon general. Her confirmation was headed for denial over her credentials and views on vaccines. 

  Means has a medical degree but never completed her residency and is not board certified. She is a wellness influencer and vaccine skeptic who has endorsed the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism.

  The President on social media blamed Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor, “a very disloyal person whose ‘TRUMP’ Endorsement got him elected, but later voted to impeach ‘President Trump’ on what has now proven to be a total Hoax and Scam.”

  Trump announced as his new nominee Dr. Nicole B. Saphier, a radiologist with a wellness podcast who has appeared frequently on Fox News. Interestingly, Dr. Saphier has praised vaccines and criticized Health Secretary Robert f. Kennedy Jr. 

— Trump posted the following on his Truth Social:

  “Anybody running for President or Vice President should be forced to take a Cognitive Examination prior to entering the Race! By doing so, we wouldn’t be surprised at people like Barack “Hussein” Obama, or Sleepy Joe Biden, getting “ELECTED.” Our Country would be a much better place! I took the Exam three times during my (“THREE!”) Terms as President, and ACED IT ALL THREE TIMES — An Achievement that, even on a single Exam, according to the Doctors, has rarely been done before!”

IT’S POLITICAL: Maine’s two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, 78, dropped out of her party’s primary to run for senator against incumbent Republican Susan Collins, ceding her party’s nomination to Graham Platner, 41, an oyster fisherman in his first run for office.

  Platner has been leading Mills in the polls, setting her up for a humiliating defeat. “While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else — the fight — to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,”  Mills said in a statement.

  Mills’ failure to win support and her withdrawal is a blow to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has blessede the Democratic senate candidates for 20 years. 

SOUTHERN STRATEGY: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order to delay House primary elections to give the Republican legislature time to re-draw its congressional district map. This came just a day after  the Supreme Court ruled Louisiana’s congressional map with a single Black-dominated district was unconstitutional.

  The intent is to carve up that one district and dilute its vote.

 THE OBIT PAGE: Roger Sweet, who created the massively muscled He-Man action figure for Mattel as well as Skeletor and other characters in the Masters of the Universe cartoon and toy franchise in the 1980s, died at age 91.

  Sweet went to work on the Masters characters after Mattel had made a huge mistake, passing on a licensing deal for figures based on the 1977 blockbuster movie “Star Wars.” Mattel made a fortune and all Sweet got was a 50 percent bonus on his salary.

THE SPIN RACK: The Washington Hilton donated 2,600 steak and lobster dinners to shelters for abused women and children after Saturday night’s shooting that brought an abrupt halt to the White House Correspondents Association dinner. The hotel kitchen staff freeze dried the meals to preserve them, according to WHCA President Weijia Jiang. She said the hotel staff worked through the night to do it. — Researchers found that an Artificial Intelligence reasoning model, developed by OpenAI, frequently matched and often outsmarted doctors diagnosing patients and making decisions about managing their care. 

BELOW THE FOLD: Riffing on the Supreme Court ruling on racially-based congressional districts, “The Daily Show’s” Josh Johnson said, “And one of the most brain-breaking things about this ruling is it’s literally taking power from Black people in the South, and it was voted for by a Black guy from the South. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is Black. He might not know it, but he is Black.”

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