Iran Strikes U.S. Destroyers in Hormuz — Ceasefire Fractures as Congress Moves on AUMF

Iran fired on three U.S. guided-missile destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday — the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason — in what the Pentagon called an “unprovoked attack.” U.S. forces responded with defensive strikes on Iranian launch sites, and the UAE reported it intercepted a separate Iranian missile-and-drone volley. President Trump dismissed the exchange as a “love tap” and insisted the ceasefire remains in effect, but Iran’s military accused Washington of violating the truce. Within hours, Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI-7) introduced H.J.Res. 176, an Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iran — placing the question of war powers squarely before a deeply divided Congress.

• Three U.S. destroyers were attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz; U.S. forces struck Iranian launch sites in response — the most direct U.S.-Iran military exchange since the war began.
• Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI-7) introduced an AUMF (H.J.Res. 176) to formalize and limit Iran war authority; 16 House Democrats simultaneously introduced H.R. 8707 to prohibit funds for any Iran military operations.
• Iran launched its third missile attack on the UAE this week — a sign Tehran is expanding the theater of conflict to pressure Abraham Accords partners.
• Trump is awaiting Iran’s formal response to a U.S. peace proposal; Rubio said the administration expects Tehran’s answer today.
• Israel’s security establishment is warning that any deal providing Iran sanctions relief without ending the nuclear program would be a “disaster for Israel.”

The ceasefire's fragility is the central fault line of U.S. Middle East policy right now: if it holds, Trump claims a win; if it collapses, the pressure to escalate — or capitulate — intensifies. The parallel AUMF and anti-war authorization bills reveal that Congress is fracturing along lines that will define the U.S.-Israel alliance architecture for years: one party moving to lock in war authority, the other moving to strip it. Which framework prevails in this Congress will determine whether the next administration inherits a blank check or a straitjacket on Iran.

Two major anti-Israel violence cases resolved Thursday: Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the Egyptian man who firebombed a pro-Israel rally in Boulder in 2025, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison plus 2,000 years. Simultaneously, the FBI confirmed that the gunman behind the March mass shooting at a downtown Austin bar was motivated in part by support for Iran and grievances over U.S. and Israeli military operations — acting alone but ideologically connected to the war.

• Mohamed Sabry Soliman sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 2,000+ years for firebombing a Boulder pro-Israel demonstration, killing one and injuring more than a dozen.
• The Austin bar shooter was motivated “in part” by support for Iran and anger over U.S.-Israeli military actions in Iran, the FBI confirmed — making it the second Iran-linked anti-Israel mass violence incident resolved this week.
• ADL issued a formal statement on the Boulder sentencing, calling it a landmark in domestic prosecution of antisemitic terror.

Two successful prosecutions in a single day — one murder, one mass shooting, both motivated by anti-Israel ideology tied to Iran — establish a public record that Iran's war is generating domestic anti-Jewish violence in the United States. The pattern is now documented in federal findings, not just advocacy claims.

Our Revolution — the Bernie Sanders-aligned political organization fiercely critical of Israel — has endorsed Assemblymember Alex Bores in the June 23 Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler in NY-12, one of the most heavily Jewish districts in the country. Bores skipped a Jewish community forum held Thursday where competing candidates wrestled with antisemitism and Israel funding questions — his absence was noted.

• Our Revolution, which backed Bernie Sanders’ 2024 Senate resolution to block weapons sales to Israel, has now endorsed Bores in a district that includes the Upper West Side — among the highest-density Jewish communities in the U.S.
• At the Jewish forum Bores skipped, candidates were asked about Sanders’ weapons-block resolution: Schlossberg and Schwalbe supported it, Conway and Lasher opposed it — revealing a clear pro-Israel/anti-Israel fault line in the primary.
• Schlossberg leads all polls for the June 23 primary; the latest data is from March, meaning the race dynamics may have shifted.

Our Revolution's move into NY-12 is a stress test of whether left anti-Israel political infrastructure can penetrate and flip historically Jewish Democratic seats. If Bores — backed by an organization on record opposing Israel arms — wins Nadler's seat, it signals that the district's Jewish identity no longer functions as a floor against anti-Israel candidates.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a conceptual state budget agreement Thursday that includes $35 million in hate-crime prevention grants and legislation establishing 25-foot protest-free buffer zones around houses of worship — a direct response to the mob targeting of Park East Synagogue and similar incidents. Connecticut simultaneously passed its own landmark hate crime consolidation bill 139-8.

• $35 million in hate-crime prevention grants secured in the New York state budget — the largest such investment in state history.
• Hochul’s proposed 25-foot buffer zones around houses of worship would make it a criminal offense to enter the restricted area for the purpose of protesting — still contentious but included in the conceptual deal.
• Connecticut passed a bill consolidating 20 separate hate crime statutes into one statute, passing the House 139-8 and clearing the Senate — described by Jewish advocacy groups as making enforcement significantly easier.

Two states moving simultaneously to strengthen protections for houses of worship and Jewish community infrastructure in a single week is a meaningful legislative signal — reactive to documented threat patterns rather than anticipatory. The NY buffer zone provision, if enacted, would be among the most aggressive physical-protection measures for synagogues in any state.

A federal judge has ordered CAIR chapters to disclose donor records and foreign travel records as part of litigation stemming from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s November designation of CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization. CAIR’s lawsuit challenging the designation appears to have backfired — discovery now compels the very financial transparency advocates have long demanded. Abbott announced the court victory publicly Thursday.

• Federal judge ordered CAIR to turn over foreign donor records and foreign travel records — a discovery win Abbott called a landmark in his legal battle against the group.
• Abbott’s FTO designation of CAIR, issued in November, is the first such state-level designation of the organization — it triggered the lawsuit and opened the discovery process.
• CAIR responded by accusing Abbott of “blatantly lying” about the court order, suggesting the records-disclosure ruling is narrower than Abbott claims — the factual dispute will play out in further proceedings.

Win or lose on the underlying FTO designation, Abbott's litigation has achieved a substantive intelligence objective: compelling CAIR to expose its foreign funding and travel networks in a court-supervised process. The pattern — filing a designation, absorbing the lawsuit, then using discovery to expose financial infrastructure — may be a replicable model for other governors.