NPR News: 09-16-2026 12AM EDT

0:00Live from MPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. The House has approved an Iran War Powers Resolution for a third time. Seven Republicans joined Democrats in the 220-204 vote that came late Tuesday night. It would block President Trump's ability to continue military action against Iran without congressional approval. And now heads to the Senate. Earlier Tuesday, Republican Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie moved to impeach defense secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing Hegseth of abusing his office by waging the war without Congress's okay. There'd be a Pentagon's inspector general, meanwhile, says that the U.S. spent at least $33 billion on the war with Iran through the month of June. But MPR Zaya Batriari reports the analysis does not include all U.S. damage costs. The report to Congress by the Pentagon's watchdog does not include estimated costs of damage to bases across the Gulf, where U.S. troops have been attacked by Iran. With the inspector general's report says U.S. Central Command has reported Iranian

1:02strikes damaging and destroying hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases across eight countries. And that dozens of U.S. aircraft were destroyed or damaged during the war. Iran's revolutionary guard says it attacked bases that U.S. forces were using during the past seven months of conflict. The report also assessed $184 million in damages from Iran's attacks on U.S. embassies and consulates in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. A. Abel Thrawi and Pair News. Dubai. FBI Director Cash Patel was on Capitol Hill Tuesday, where he clashed with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in response to a question about hiring policy changes. Patel defended the Bureau's hiring standard, saying he eliminated bestiality as an automatic disqualifier because he did not want to bar trafficking victims from applying for FBI jobs. The families of the 67 people killed in last year's mid-air collision over Washington DC, pushing Congress and regulators for action. MPR's Joel Rose reports a joint lawmakers and safety investigators are rally on Capitol

2:05Hill Tuesday. Doug Lane lost his wife and son when an American Airlines regional jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter last year. Lane joined with other victims' families calling on Congress and federal regulators to take action. We can tell their stories. We can ask questions. We can push for answers. We can demand action, but we cannot do everybody else's work for them. The families were joined by the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is pushing federal aviation regulators to do more. Congress is still deadlocked over competing safety proposals that passed the House and Senate. But Senator Ted Cruz said he hopes to pass a bill during the lame duck session after the mid-term elections. Joel Rose and P.R. News, Washington. A death toll on a fiery helicopter crash in Los Angeles is rising officials now say three people are dead, including at least one on the ground. The crash happened near a deadly bus crash in the Chatsworth suburb. This is MPR. The Kennedy Center Board of Directors voted Tuesday to close the venue.

3:06The bouquet minutes after a federal judge again blocked the board from adding President's name on the building or on the grounds. President Trump says the Justice Department will appeal the judge's ruling. He's also bound to cancel a planned renovation, unless the dispute over his name is reversed by a higher court. The Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court is resigning following an ethics investigation. The Justice accused of steering a pal to a top aid from New Hampshire Public Radio, top bookman reports. Gordon McDonald was appointed Chief of the five-member court in 2021. Last year, a whistleblower accused him of helping to orchestrate an irregular personnel move for a top aid. That employee was laid off and then rehired just 48 hours later into a new job, allowing her to cash out nearly $50,000 in accrued sick and vacation time. McDonald was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, but an ethics probe found he violated the state's code of conduct. McDonald's decision to step down clears the way for Republican governor Kelly A to name

4:08his replacement. It isn't clear if that will come before November's election. For NPR News, I'm Todd Bookman in Concord, New Hampshire. Investors waiting for a decision from the Federal Reserve on interest rates, a central bank widely expected to announce Wednesday, a hike in its key short-term rate to fight inflation, putting the Fed at odds with demands by President Trump ahead of the announcement stocks in Asia of mixed after losses on Wall Street. I'm Dr. Eils Snyder. This is NPR News.