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Today’s top stories
The Pentagon now estimates the U.S. military campaign related to the conflict with Iran has cost about $29 billion so far. That figure, disclosed during testimony to Congress, is up from an estimate of roughly $25 billion reported two weeks ago. Pentagon officials said their total does not yet include repair costs to U.S. facilities hit by Iranian strikes. A senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told reporters those repairs could add at least another $4 billion. The Defense Department plans to request supplemental funding to cover war-related costs. More than two months into the conflict, Republican lawmakers have expressed frustration with what they say is limited information from the White House. The war is also emerging as a political issue for Republicans ahead of the fall, as voters face daily reminders of the conflict in the economy.
The acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, resigned after 13 months in the role. His tenure was turbulent: he clashed with parts of the administration and with public-health advocates over the pace and direction of regulatory changes. Reporters say the final pressure came from the White House over flavored vaping products, which he did not support. The White House named Kyle Diamantas, the deputy commissioner for food and a lawyer by training, as acting head. Because the administration has struggled to get some health nominees confirmed by the Senate, a permanent commissioner may not be in place soon.
A new Education Scorecard from Stanford and Harvard researchers finds that the student declines in math and reading that accelerated during the pandemic were part of a longer “learning recession” that began years earlier. The fourth annual report notes encouraging progress in math: most states are finally recording gains. Reading recovery is lagging in many places, but the states that have made reading gains also enacted legislative changes to how literacy is taught in schools.
Legal scholars warn that a string of presidential pardons for former officials convicted of corruption, combined with moves to dismantle the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, risk weakening the U.S. effort to combat public corruption. Critics say these actions send a signal that corruption will not be treated as seriously as in the past.
Deep dive: Politics, pesticides and the MAHA movement
A growing rift between traditional Republican priorities and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is playing out over the use of glyphosate, the widely used weed killer known by brand names such as Roundup. The administration has defended glyphosate as important to American agriculture and food supply; MAHA activists — who include wellness influencers, vaccine skeptics, anti-pesticide advocates and concerned parents — call it a toxin that should be restricted.
That split could create openings for Democrats to win over disaffected MAHA supporters, since many MAHA food-policy priorities (reducing ultra-processed foods, tightening pesticide rules) have cross-party appeal. But practical and economic challenges complicate any move away from glyphosate: farmers face higher costs driven by tariffs, rising fuel and fertilizer prices related to the war, and would need time and investment to shift to alternative practices. Also, food policy is shaped across multiple agencies, and MAHA’s political leaders have limited influence over agencies like the USDA and EPA.
Picture show: Standardizing cacao quality
A program called Cacao of Excellence has worked to create consistent standards for evaluating cacao beans, similar to grading systems used for wine and coffee. Chocolate scientists and quality experts developed methods for preparing and assessing beans so buyers, sellers and farmers can compare quality reliably. Standardization can help consumers recognize higher-quality chocolate and potentially allow some of that value to flow back to producers. The program’s lab work and sensory evaluation are now used by many producers and traders worldwide.
Three things to know before you go
1) Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is returning to reality television with an unscripted family travel series called The Great American Road Trip, set to debut before America’s 250th birthday.
2) A study published in JAMA Network Open estimates about 32 million U.S. children live in homes with firearms; nearly 7 million live in homes with at least one unlocked and loaded gun.
3) Domestic air travel overall has grown in recent years, but short flights of a few hundred miles have declined, according to aviation analytics.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen and Yvonne Dennis.