Murkowski Flips, Senate GOP Opposition Hardens as Iran War Costs Rise and Strait of Hormuz Stays Shut

Murkowski Flips. The Resolution Still Fails.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted this week to halt the U.S. conflict with Iran and require President Trump to secure congressional authorization to continue it. According to the New York Times, she is the latest Republican to switch her vote — but the war powers resolution failed again in the Senate.

She is not alone. According to NPR's Claudia Grisales, more than two months into the conflict, GOP frustration over the White House's information blackout is mounting. Republicans are staring down midterm elections this fall facing voters who are unhappy with the war and seeing its economic consequences every time they fill up their gas tanks.

The Cost Nobody's Talking About Honestly

The Pentagon now estimates the war has cost $29 billion — up from $25 billion just two weeks ago, according to NPR. That's $4 billion in new spending in 14 days.

Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR that the Pentagon's figure does not include the cost of repairs to U.S. military facilities damaged by Iranian strikes. Cancian says those repairs could add at least another $4 billion to the tab.

The real number is closer to $33 billion — and the Pentagon is planning to ask for supplemental funding on top of that. Taxpayers are not being given the full bill.

The Strait Is Still Closed. That's the Real Story.

Mainstream coverage keeps obsessing over the political theater in Washington. The bigger crisis is happening in the water off Iran's southern coast.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told the New York Times on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz must fully reopen before the global energy crisis ends. His words: "The single most important solution to this problem today is fully and unconditionally opening up of the Strait of Hormuz."

He added: "We are far from having this situation, and so, the economic damage is still in the making."

The IEA reported Wednesday that oil output from Persian Gulf countries is now more than 14 million barrels per day below prewar levels. Global inventories are depleting at a record pace. The IEA already coordinated the release of 400 million barrels from member nations' strategic reserves — the largest such release in history — and Birol said more releases may be necessary.

About 40 countries are also implementing demand-reduction measures including subsidizing public transportation and encouraging remote work.

It's Not Just Gas Prices Anymore

The war is strangling the global supply chain for basic materials. Tokyo-based Calbee Inc., which makes widely sold potato chips and cereal, announced this week that 14 of its products will switch to black-and-white packaging starting May 25, according to the Associated Press. Why? The war has created a shortage of naphtha — an oil-derived product used in colored ink and plastics.

Japan imports nearly all of its oil. The government has worked to calm public fears by pointing to national reserves, but naphtha is a separate squeeze that reserves don't fix. Airlines in Europe have already slashed thousands of flights due to jet fuel shortages.

Chip bags turning monochrome is a visible, everyday signal that the Strait of Hormuz closure is now touching manufacturing supply chains across the globe. Birol also warned the New York Times that rising fertilizer costs — another downstream effect of the energy disruption — could push food prices higher for years.

50,000 Troops, One Family's Reality

Approximately 50,000 American troops are currently deployed across the Middle East, according to NPR.

NPR spent time with Jessica Serrato, a Southern California mother of two whose Army reservist partner is deployed to the region. Every morning phone call from him is confirmation he's still alive. She checks whether his base got hit overnight by Iranian strikes before she can exhale.

President Trump on Monday called Iran's latest ceasefire demands "garbage" and warned the truce was on "massive life support," according to NPR. Families of 50,000 deployed troops heard that statement.

What Mainstream Media Is Getting Wrong

Left-leaning outlets are correctly covering the political opposition growing inside the GOP. But they're framing the Murkowski flip primarily as a political story about Trump's weakening grip — rather than as a constitutional story about a war being fought without formal congressional authorization.

The central question remains unanswered: How does a $33 billion war with no congressional authorization, a closed global waterway, and a ceasefire on "massive life support" constitute a coherent strategy?

The bill is rising. The strait is closed. The Senate can't muster a war powers vote. And families in Southern California are waiting by their phones every morning just to know someone is still breathing.