Morning Wire
Evening Wire: An $80 Billion Question & The Boy in the Crocodile Pit | 6.19.26
19 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pentagon is asking for more tax dollars. President Obama's library finally opens with a land acknowledgement. And gas prices are back under $4. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Friday, June 19th, and this is Evening Wire.
The Pentagon is telling lawmakers that it needs $80 billion in additional funding due to the Iran war and other bills. Contributor Tim Pierce has more.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Deputy War Secretary Steven Feinberg phoned members of Congress this week to request the extra cash. And this as Congress has pressed the administration to provide a clearer picture of the total price tag of the Iran war.
The White House Office of Management and Budget will have to finalize any supplemental funding request, but Feinberg is reportedly confident enough in the estimates to brief lawmakers on what it'll cost. The Pentagon's budget for the 2026 fiscal year so far is roughly $1 trillion.
But while the war in Iran is expected to de-escalate with peace talks between Washington and Tehran, there is still a lot of confusion over the Strait of Hormuz and the specifics of an eventual peace agreement.
Israel has renewed strikes in Lebanon after a Hezbollah explosive device struck a tank and killed four Israeli soldiers. Israel's prime minister promised that the terror group would pay a very heavy price. Foreign affairs reporter Cassie Akiva has more.
The IDF said this morning that it struck at least 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight. Lebanon's health ministry said at least 21 people were killed. A ceasefire is now in place. The explosion and hostilities between Israel and the terror group is the first major test of a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed just days before.
The Financial Times reports that the attacks in Lebanon caused Vice President JD Vance to cancel a planned trip to Switzerland to meet with the Iranians. The White House blamed the postponement on technical details of the agreement outlined in the MOU that had not yet been finalized.
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Chapter 2: Why is the Pentagon requesting an additional $80 billion in funding?
Iranian officials have said that the ongoing attacks in Lebanon are a red line for negotiations to move forward.
The DOJ is looking into JP Morgan and Citigroup as part of its investigation into Iranian Supreme Leader Mojabah Khomeini's U.S. investments. The Trump administration is cracking down on money laundering and corruption, and that includes potential money flows connected to Khomeini.
Bloomberg reports that officials say the new Supreme Leader has amassed a huge investment portfolio and that it could expose Wall Street banks.
In other Iran news, a young Iranian woman who sang without a hijab in a desert concert has been sentenced to 74 lashes. Daily Wire assistant editor Andy Valdez has the story.
A human rights group revealed yesterday that 28-year-old Parastu Ahmadi was sentenced by a calm court to be flogged, as well as receiving a two-year travel ban and a two-year ban on performing. Her supposed crime was live streaming a performance on YouTube in December 2024, in which she performed without a hijab to no audience.
Eight musicians and crew members were sentenced alongside her, all convicted of, quote, offending public decency.
The Supreme Court delivered a unanimous blow to a gun law used in convicting Hunter Biden before his father pardoned him. Reporter Drew Berkmeyer has more.
The court ruled Thursday that the federal government unconstitutionally applied a gun restriction law to a Texas man who regularly used marijuana. The ruling narrows the reach of the same statute used in the prosecution of Biden.
In the United States v. Hamani, the court held that prosecutors violated the Second Amendment when they charged Ali Hamani under a federal law forbidding firearm possession by unlawful users of controlled substances.
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