Constitution? I Hardly Know Him: Senate Republicans voted down a war powers resolution that would’ve halted the attacks on Iran and allowed time for Congress to authorize the war. That’s the Constitutional way to go to war, anyway—only Congress has the power to declare war. The president does not (despite this, we haven’t declared any of our wars since World War II, and we’ve waged many). The House will vote today on a similar measure, but it’s expected to fail.
Also: The US government is dodging responsibility for the deadly strike on the Iranian girls’ school, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth only saying they’re “investigating” the incident. The incident killed at least 165 students and injured 96 others.
And Also: President Donald Trump says he must be involved in choosing Iran’s next leader. Replacing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with Mojtaba Khamenei, his son and likely successor, would be “unacceptable,” Trump said.
Trespassing/Occupying, Tomayto/Tomahto: Last May, 33 protesters broke into and occupied the University of Washington’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building, smashing windows, spray painting walls, breaking equipment and setting dumpsters on fire to protest the university’s ties to Boeing, which sells weapons to Israel. Twenty-three of them were UW students. Yesterday, King County prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor criminal trespassing—a downgrade from the original felony charges they got in June, which were dropped for lack of evidence. They’ll be arraigned on March 25.
Another Day, Another Anti-Trans Effort: An initiative to keep trans girls out of sports will appear on November’s statewide ballot. Backed by Brian Heywood, the conservative hedge fund manager who founded Let’s Go Washington, Initiative IL26-638 would require girls to “verify their biological sex” with a health care provider to play school sports. Verification could include blood draws and genital exams.
The War on Drugs Sugar: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants Dunkin’ and Starbucks to prove their sugary coffee drinks are “safe.” How about informing Americans of the risks of going unvaccinated?
Mayor Wilson Proposes 1,000 New Shelter Units: Mayor Katie Wilson sent legislation to City Council that would let the city more quickly secure space for 1,000 new units of shelter and emergency housing in Seattle this year. Her proposal would both allow the Finance and Administrative Services Department to sign lease agreements with property owners and temporarily increase the number of people allowed in most shelters from 100 to 150, while one shelter in each district could house up to 250.
Weather: Mostly cloudy with a high of 51 and a 50 percent chance of rain before noon. Tonight, temps drop to a low around 44 with rain falling after midnight.
Ouch: Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy tried to help Capitol police arrest Brian McGinnis, a Marine and Green Party candidate, protesting the war in Iran at a Senate hearing yesterday, and ended up snapping his arm as he clutched the door.
Here’s the video. Keep scrolling if you’re squeamish.
[TW: graphic fracture, sound of breaking bone]
Sen Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) badly breaking the arm of a Marine veteran protesting the war Iran.
— Claire Zagorski, MSc, EMT-P (@clairezagorski.bsky.social) March 4, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Extreme County Makeover (Cont.): It looks like King County Executive Girmay Zahilay is continuing to reconfigure the county workforce. He just hired a new internal auditor and created a “subcabinet” focused on accountability, new internal grant fund controls and training employees on ethics and fraud prevention to “improve oversight of the county’s finances.”
Hurry Up: State lawmakers are running out of time to pass the millionaires’ tax before the legislative session ends. Most Democrats support the bill, but intra-party division threatens to derail this much needed tax. If passed, the bill would still need Gov. Bob Ferguson’s signature, but he’s now said for the third time the measure still needs revisions before he’d sign. He said he’s hopeful they can reach an agreement but is committed to getting this “right,” even if that means pushing the issue to next year.
War in Iran Brings Higher Gas Prices: The state’s average price climbed another two cents per gallon. The state’s average price is $4.40 per gallon, as of yesterday—43 cents more than a month ago and $1.20 above the national average.
FIFA Transit Money: Seattle is getting $8.4 million from the $100 million Federal Transit Administration to mitigate any strain on the city’s public transit system from the FIFA World Cup this summer. These funds can be used for event planning, hiring, security equipment, and more. The money is part of last month’s $1.2 trillion congressional spending package that prevented a government shutdown but stalled funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Will Iran Send a Team? They’re scheduled to play against Egypt in Seattle on June 26, but after the US attacks, Iranian soccer federation President Mehdi Taj said they might not.