Trump to Attend Dover Transfer for Fallen U.S. Service Members as Hegseth Faces Senate Questions

President Trump is set to travel to Dover Air Force Base for a dignified transfer of U.S. service members killed in Iranian strikes. The Pentagon identified the third service member killed in Jordan as Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, bringing the number of U.S. casualties in the Iran war to 18.

As the death toll rises, questions are growing about when the war will end and what its aims are. NPR’s Franco Ordoñez said public concern is increasing as the conflict produces visible losses. Justin Logan of the Cato Institute said flag-draped coffins are harder for the public to ignore than abstract concerns about munitions and military capacity.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked senators for $67 billion in supplemental Pentagon funding during an hours-long hearing that at times turned contentious. He said the money would help replenish depleted equipment and munitions and speed delivery of projects and equipment. He also warned that without the additional funding, service members’ pay could face shortfalls.

Some lawmakers objected to being asked to approve funding for a war that Congress never authorized. Senators raised questions about Iran’s nuclear program, missile capabilities, and the future of the Strait of Hormuz. NPR’s Claudia Grisales said the skepticism reflects concerns about the direction of the war and its political impact heading into the midterms.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said rising gasoline prices are tied to the latest escalation in fighting, a message Democrats are likely to use in their effort to win back control of Congress.

In Arizona, Republicans chose U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs as their nominee for governor and state lawmaker Alexander Kolodin as their nominee for secretary of state. Both men have openly opposed the 2020 presidential election results. Trump endorsed both candidates, and Turning Point, the political group founded in Arizona by the late Charlie Kirk, also backed them.

Ben Giles of NPR member station KJZZ said Trump and Turning Point matter less in the general election, where MAGA candidates must appeal to a wider electorate, especially Arizona’s independent voters. He said the primary results worry some Republicans who fear Democrats could regain key statewide races.

Although more traditional conservative candidates were in both primaries, neither race was close, underscoring Trump and Turning Point’s influence with Republican primary voters. Giles said Republican primary voters prefer far-right candidates, even though those candidates continue to lose when Democrats and independents vote in November. Turning Point has struggled to get its preferred candidates elected in important statewide races.

Trump has campaigned more so far this year than he had by this point in 2018 during his first term. The House of Representatives voted to extend government funding past this year's midterms, through Dec. 4. Democratic leaders opposed the extension, saying it fails to block funding for Donald Trump’s deportation agenda, though six Democrats joined Republicans to advance the bill. The measure now moves to the Senate, where it will need Democratic support to pass or the government could run out of money in September.

The orange metro line in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, has changed travel and safety for women since it opened six years ago. Women have long relied on buses and rickshaws in the congested city, but many have faced harassment. The metro’s separate section for women has provided an added safety barrier, and NPR’s Diaa Hadid spoke with riders about how the line has improved their lives.

Shireen Rizvi and Jesse Finkelstein, co-authors of Real Skills for Real Life: A DBT Guide to Navigating Stress, Emotions, and Relationships, offer techniques for coping with distress. Rizvi, a board-certified dialectical behavior therapy therapist, described TIP skills: temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, and paired muscle relaxation.

Temperature means plunging the face, eyes, and temples into cold water and ice to trigger the mammalian dive reflex. Intense exercise means raising the heart rate quickly for at least 30 seconds. Paced breathing means making exhales longer than inhales. Paired muscle relaxation means tensing and releasing muscles one group at a time while pairing exhales with a calming word.

The newsletter also notes that almost a quarter of U.S. employees with job-based health insurance said they stay in unwanted jobs to keep coverage, according to a West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America survey. It also highlights the story of Susan Greenstein Prescott and teacher Fred DeMayo, and Jim Faust, whose nonprofit Adam’s Parachute uses fly fishing to support addiction recovery.