Traci Mumford

Barrett, who is an Army veteran, said the president has sole authority to lead troops during wartime, but, quote, I've lost too many friends on the battlefield to allow that to happen without Congress exercising its constitutional role, saying he wanted safeguards and a clear deadline.

Meanwhile, there's also been continued fighting in Lebanon, despite the ceasefire there.

The agreement has curbed the violence somewhat, but Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging daily attacks in the southern part of the country.

And this week, Israel launched an airstrike in the suburbs of Beirut.

It hit an apartment building in a densely populated area where Hezbollah holds sway.

The Israeli military said it was targeting and killed a commander of the Iran-backed militia.

But the attack risked further destabilizing the already shaky temporary truce.

The Trump administration is watching closely, as renewed fighting there could complicate any U.S.

agreement with Iran, which has insisted that Israeli strikes in Lebanon end.

Now, two quick updates on the federal government.

First, infectious disease experts are warning that the U.S.

response to the hantavirus outbreak shows the country is ill prepared to deal with future public health crises.

The current outbreak on a cruise ship has left three people dead and at least five sick.

Some passengers have scattered around the world, though, requiring them to be monitored elsewhere.

There are six in the U.S., and experts say the CDC has been sluggish to respond.

The agency has been largely silent, and it took nearly a month after the first death to set up a response team.

That timing is what worries experts more than the virus itself, which they note rarely spreads among people.

Some former public health officials say the Trump administration's deep staffing cuts at the CDC have hamstrung the agency.

And new federal data shows the U.S.

government appears to have reached a worrying new milestone, with the country's debt growing larger than its total economic output.