Iran strike was Pentagon’s 1st use of 1-way drones, CENTCOM says
Smoke rises over the city center after an Israeli army launches 2nd wave of airstrikes on Iran on February 28, 2026. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Saturday’s attack against Iran was the Pentagon’s first use of one-way drones in combat, CENTCOM said, and only about three months since its first notable test in the field — a rapid turnaround for a weapon system in the United States’ arsenal.
The use of one-way drones comes as military planners have been rapidly building up a squadron in the Middle East of Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, a one-way attack drone produced by Arizona-based SpektreWorks.
Each unit costs about $35,000 — much cheaper than a $30 million Reaper drone and subsequent munitions.
The drones are brand new, being deployed to the Middle East in December and having their first test flight from a Navy ship that month.
The American drone was reverse-engineered from Iran’s Shahed drones that have been used by Iran against Israel and by Russia against Ukraine.
The new drones are part of CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike, which was founded shortly after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed acceleration of the acquisition and deployment of cheap drone technology last summer.
LUCAS drones are designed to operate autonomously, according to CENTCOM. They can be launched with different mechanisms to include catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff, and ground and vehicle systems.
“Autonomous” doesn’t always refer to technology that doesn’t require humans for a designate a target, just that it doesn’t necessarily require human involvement after a target is selected, according to Pentagon policy.
One-way attack drones became notable in the war in Ukraine and spurred enormous investment into the technology from the Pentagon as a significantly cheaper option with relative ease of use compared to other weapons and aircraft.
“The first hours of the operation included precision munitions launched from air, land, and sea,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Todd Lyons, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), speaks during a news conference in Nogales, Arizona, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (Ash Ponders/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Amid a funding fight on Capitol Hill and polls showing more than 60% of Americans disapproving of how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is enforcing immigration laws, senior immigration officials will testify Tuesday before the House Department of Homeland Security Committee.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) Commissioner Rodney Scott are to appear in the first of two hearings on oversight of the two agencies. Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is also expected to appear.
The three are scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday.
Tuesday’s testimony will be their first since two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis and since the partial drawdown of federal officers from Minnesota.
“In order to get [Department of Homeland Security funding] done, I think we need to get some questions asked and make everybody feel comfortable about what ICE, USCIS, and CBP are doing, what their goals are, and what they’re trying to accomplish,” House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y. said on the “Julie Mason Show” over the weekend. “I think having these directors there will give them the opportunity to talk about the training that their officers receive. There was a huge investment to hire more ICE and CBP officers that came through the One Big Beautiful Bill. It’s going to be good to have these directors giving answers and setting the record straight.”
Democrats have been calling for more accountability for ICE and CBP. They have also called on Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the immigration agencies, to resign, which she has said she will not.
In a statement released Monday, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the hearing “is going to be just the start of a reckoning for the Trump administration and its weaponization of government against our country.”
“Donald Trump and Kristi Noem must be held accountable for the immigration operations creating chaos in our communities, terrorizing people, and hurting U.S. citizens and immigrants alike,” he continued. “I hope my Republican colleagues will remember that our job is to conduct oversight, not cover for Donald Trump and his out-of-control administration, which is running roughshod over Americans’ rights, killing U.S. citizens, and threatening our very democracy.”
Polls show Americans disapprove of how the agencies are conducting President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operation.
A Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month found that 63% of voters disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration laws and 34% approve — a lower rating than the agency received in a January Quinnipiac poll, when 57% disapproved and 40% approved.
And an Ipsos poll from early February found that 62% of Americans said efforts by ICE officers to deal with unauthorized immigration goes “too far.” That is up slightly from 58% who said the same in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted the week before. The share of Republicans saying ICE efforts go too far was up 10 points, from 20% to 30%.
Funding for DHS is set to expire on Friday if there is no deal on DHS reforms Democrats want passed for CBP and ICE.
In a letter last week to Republican leaders, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out 10 key demands from Democrats on DHS funding, including calling for judicial warrants before agents can enter private property, a ban on ICE agents wearing face masks, requiring the use of body cameras and new laws for use-of-force standards.
Republican Sen. Katie Britt, who has been deputized by leadership to lead talks on behalf of Senate Republicans, ripped into the Democrats’ proposal in a post on X last week.
“Democrats’ newest proposal is a ridiculous Christmas list of demands for the press,” Britt said. “This is NOT negotiating in good faith, and it’s NOT what the American people want. They continue to play politics to their radical base at the expense of the safety of Americans.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday evening that Republicans are preparing a counteroffer to Democrats’ proposal that could be made available soon.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) speaks to a crowd during a fundraising event with the South Carolina Democratic Party at the Columbia Museum of Art on February 27, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. T (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn told ABC News on Thursday that he is running for reelection, not announcing his retirement.
Clyburn, 85, later made the announcement official at South Carolina Democratic Party HQ in Columbia, where he promised to mount a “vigorous campaign” as he pursues an 18th term in the House of Representatives.
Amid speculation that he may opt to retire, the former House majority whip admitted he seriously considered it and consulted with his three daughters and polled constituents. He said the message he received was, “We don’t want you to leave.”
“So, I’m responding to the people down here,” Clyburn said.
After more than 33 years in the House, what is left unfinished for Clyburn to accomplish?
“We exist in pursuit of a more perfect union,” Clyburn said. “There’s nobody here today who thinks that this country is perfect. It is not a perfect country. But I don’t think there’s anybody today who believe that we should give up on that pursuit of perfection, and I’m here today to say I do believe that I’m very well equipped and healthy enough to move into the next term, trying to do the things that are necessary to continue that pursuit of perfection.”
Clyburn’s potential reelection would push his political survival beyond Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, who are retiring at the end of the current term on Jan. 3, 2027.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to seize the majority in November’s midterm elections.
“He was among those who asked me to stay,” Clyburn said of Jeffries. “He expressed an interest in my being a part of his leadership if he were to take the House back.”
Clyburn helped propel former President Joe Biden to the White House in 2020, throwing his endorsement behind Biden days before the South Carolina primary after three consecutive primary victories by Bernie Sanders as a field of Democrats vied for the party nomination.
Biden awarded Clyburn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024.
“Always grounded in faith, family and service, Jim has guided South Carolina and our country with a steady hand and honest heart for over the last half century,” Biden said. “I would not be standing here as president making these awards were it not for Jim. I mean that sincerely.”
Clyburn on Thursday would not say whether, if he is reelected, it would be his final term.
“This could very well be my last term, and it could very well not be,” Clyburn said. “We’ll just see how things go.”
Clyburn’s announcement comes as an increasing number of members of Congress are retiring, including Pelosi, 85, Hoyer, 86, and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, 84.
Clyburn said in a 2021 interview with Axios that there is a path for the next generation and that if they wanted his seat, to “come get it.”
“The path is there for the next generation; I never asked anyone to die for me. I don’t know why people come saying you need to step aside for me. No. If you want my seat, come get it,” Clyburn said at the time.
Still, the U.S. Congress has gotten younger as a whole, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of representatives and senators who took office at the start of the 119th Congress.
The median age of voting members of the House of Representatives is now 57.5 years. That’s down from 57.9 at the start of the 118th Congress (2023-2025), 58.9 in the 117th Congress (2021-2023).
The Senate, following the death or retirement of some of its oldest members, has begun to reverse its aging trend. The new Senate’s median age is 64.7 years, down from 65.3 at the start of the previous Congress.
Motor Tanker Veronica is seized in the Caribbean by U.S. Coast Guard tactical team, Jan. 15, 2026. U.S. Southern Command
(WASHINGTON) — The United States seized another tanker in the Caribbean Thursday morning, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced — saying in a social media post that the vessel was “operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the seizure in an X post along with video of the operation, which she said happened without incident.
“Early this morning, a Coast Guard tactical team conducted a pre-dawn boarding and seizure of Motor Tanker Veronica in the Caribbean,” she said.
“As another sanctioned ghost fleet tanker, Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she added.
The U.S. Southern Command said the Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear launched from USS Gerald R. Ford and “apprehended Motor/Tanker Veronica without incident.”
This is the sixth tanker linked to Venezuela boarded by U.S. troops in the last several weeks, following growing escalations between the U.S. and Venezuela.
The tanker’s seizure comes less than two weeks after U.S. military forces captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who are facing federal charges including narcoterrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine. Both Maduro and his wife have entered not guilty pleas.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
