Widow of Airman Killed in Iran War Says She Was Denied Benefits

A U.S. military widow whose husband was killed in the Iran war claims that she is being denied death benefits.

Libby Klinner, the widow of U.S. Air Force Major John “Alex” Klinner, who died in a crash in Iraq in March, said on Instagram Sunday that she had not received certain military benefits as a surviving spouse.

“The Air Force recently told me that because we haven’t officially declared war, my kids and I aren’t eligible for some benefits,” Klinner wrote. “So, not only was my husband killed in a war he never wanted to participate in, but now the benefits we’re left with are being dictated by semantics and public perception.”

In a follow-up post Tuesday, Klinner said that the Air Force’s director of mortuary affairs had contacted her after the initial post to audit her benefits. She has not posted any updates about her benefits since.

The Air Force has reached out to Klinner, a spokesperson told the Daily Express, in order “to ensure she is receiving all eligible benefits she and her family are entitled to, as well as ensure all her questions are fully addressed.”

“We understand this matter has been difficult for Mrs. Klinner and her family, and we are committed to addressing her concerns with care and respect,” the spokesperson said. “We remain committed to providing clear information and continued support to Mrs. Klinner, as well as all the families of the Airmen who died in the KC-135 crash.”

Klinner’s husband is one of 18 U.S. service members who have been killed during the war with Iran. Another 757 people have been wounded, according to the Department of Defense. President Trump has mishandled the war, seemingly operating without a plan, and has stopped and restarted hostilities in order to make the dubious legal claim that the conflict hasn’t been one unceasing war but several small ones, in an effort to avoid accountability. If Klinner’s claim is true, it seems that this legal sleight of hand may also be to deny military benefits.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been charged by federal prosecutors with lying about the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minnesota earlier this year.

The Associated Press, citing an unnamed source, reports that officer Christian Castro, who allegedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg during January’s Minneapolis crackdown, has been charged with making false statements to federal investigators.

The federal charges come after Castro was released from a Texas jail last week thanks to Republican Governor Greg Abbot’s refusal to sign an extradition order to Minnesota, where Castro faced separate charges of assault and false reporting related to the shooting.

The government tried to claim Sosa-Celis beat an officer with a broom handle and snow shovel but was forced to drop its charges against him after video evidence debunked its case. ProPublica reported earlier this week that the Department of Justice blocked federal prosecutors from bringing more serious civil rights charges, like those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd, against Castro.

The Associated Press reports that no final decision has been made regarding whether further charges will be brought against Castro. It’s a surprising move from the DOJ, considering how much the Trump administration has sought to protect ICE agents from prosecution. The DOJ still has not charged anyone over the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two Minnesotans who were shot and killed by ICE agents as part of “Operation Metro Surge.”

In those cases, it may all be up to Minnesota authorities, who have received evidence from both killings from the federal government. But Minnesota may run into resistance, much like it did in its attempt to prosecute Castro. For now, though, Castro may soon have to go to federal court.

On Thursday, 33 Democrats joined Republicans to pass a law that would take federal funding away from academic institutions involved in any kind of boycott of or divestment from Israel. The legislation passed 237–169.

The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act, headed by Republican Representative Virginia Foxx and Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer, strips federal funding from any school that carries out a “nonexpressive commercial boycott” of Israel—like “refusals to deal” with it on a business level. Notably, the bill also applies to boycotts of institutions based in Israeli settlements.

“Thank you @RepJoshG and @virginiafoxx for leading this important bipartisan effort to counter the dangerous BDS [or Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions] campaign and safeguard academic engagement with Israel,” the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, celebrated on X after the vote. “This legislation helps protect pro-Israel students from discriminatory boycotts and efforts to deny them the ability to study in Israel or learn from Israeli professors, while fully protecting First Amendment rights.”

This is a boldfaced attempt to make not just political capitulation but financial capitulation to Israel a requirement for federal funding. Eighty percent of Democratic voters and Democratic-leaning independents have a negative view of Israel, as it continues to bomb Gaza and Lebanon and Israeli settlers terrorize Palestinians in the West Bank.

The bill has many detractors, even in the Democratic Party.

“The bill’s federal requirements raise serious questions about how they would operate in practice, the potential negative effects on institutions, and the extent to which the federal government may condition funding on policies that implicate First Amendment-protected speech,” the House Education and Workforce Committee Democrats wrote in a statement before the vote.

“No matter how strongly I oppose the BDS movement, I also believe that those who engage in BDS have a First Amendment right to do so. The First Amendment right to free speech does not apply only to agreeable speech,” Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler, Congress’s most senior Jewish member, wrote. “No matter how much I may disagree with BDS, and find it strategically stupid and morally repugnant, I will always fight to protect Americans’ right to speech with which I disagree. It is the only way to ensure speech I do agree with is equally protected.”

The bill now heads to the Senate to be voted on when it returns from Labor Day break on September 14.

Here is every Democrat who voted to take funding away from universities that boycott Israel:

Jake Auchincloss (Massachusetts)
Kathy Castor (Florida)
Gilbert Ray Cisneros Jr. (California)
Jim Costa (California)
Joe Courtney (Connecticut)
Henry Cuellar (Texas)
Donald G. Davis (North Carolina)
Lois Frankel (Florida)
Laura Gillen (New York)
Jared F. Golden (Maine)
Vicente Gonzalez (Texas)
Greg Landsman (Ohio)
George Latimer (New York)
Susie Lee (Nevada)
John W. Mannion (New York)
Jared Moskowitz (Florida)
Donald Norcross (New Jersey)
Jimmy Panetta (California)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington)
Josh Riley (New York)
Bradley Scott Schneider (Illinois)
Hillary J. Scholten (Michigan)
Kim Schrier (Washington)
Brad Sherman (California)
Darren Soto (Florida)
Haley M. Stevens (Michigan)
Thomas R. Suozzi (New York)
Shri Thanedar (Michigan)
Dina Titus (Nevada)
Ritchie Torres (New York)
Juan Vargas (California)
Eugene Simon Vindman (Virginia)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Florida)

At least two Republicans in Congress are now calling for Pete Hegesth’s ouster as secretary of defense.

Following Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation on Wednesday, Senator Thom Tillis called for President Trump to fire Hegseth, saying that he has “never witnessed more inept management” at the Pentagon.

“If we had a @SecWar who maintained the same priorities and forward-thinking, he would be fighting to retain talented leaders like Dan and the many flag officers he has forced into retirement. Instead, he is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks,” Tillis wrote on X. “I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.”

Later on Wednesday, Republican Representative Don Bacon backed up Tillis.

“I agree with the sentiments of Senator Tillis. I hate to tell the president who he should hire and fire. I don’t know if it’s really my role, but I would say this: I would not—he would not be on my team. I think he is—he has not been a very good leader in many ways,” Bacon said on CNN regarding Hegseth.

Other Republicans have not yet called for Hegseth to go but have expressed concern over Driscoll’s departure.

“I was disappointed. I think he’s been a pretty solid guy. So disappointed,” Senator Mike Rounds told The Hill.

“I’m tired of all the churn,” Republican Representative Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday. “I want to see some stability over there.”

Driscoll informed Trump personally about his fears of a weakened military with all of the high-level military purges pushed by Hegseth. Initial reports suggested that Trump was shocked at the news but has not signaled that any changes are forthcoming.

The Trump administration has found a new way to target Black and brown students at American universities—by giving white kids all their money.

The Department of Treasury proposed a new rule Thursday that would require the IRS to deny tax-exempt status to any private school offering targeted support for Black and minority students. If implemented, the rule will go into effect on May 31, 2027, and affect an estimated 18,000 schools across the country.

The Trump administration has long asserted that the very programs meant to address the nation’s history of racial discrimination and segregation are themselves a form of racial discrimination in violation of federal standards. The new rule comes amid sweeping efforts by the government to gut funding from supposedly diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and to reallocate any money that’s not earmarked for the white—sorry, right—purposes.

The proposed rule could have stark implications for historically Black colleges and universities, which are currently tax-exempt. Even as the Trump administration made efforts to gut funding for programs pushing DEI at other schools, these institutions previously received a financial boost from the Trump administration, a surprising move that gave some the impression that the president has no problem with Black people in Black spaces. He just couldn’t stomach them attending the universities his friends’ kids might go to.

The proposed rule also stands to gut charitable giving from donors. If schools fail to comply with the Trump administration’s rule and lose their tax-exempt status, donors’ gifts would no longer be considered tax-deductible. If schools hope to retain their tax-exempt status, the proposed regulation would force institutions to work with donors to determine alternative sets of eligibility criteria for scholarship recipients.

The proposed rule is likely to face legal challenges, but it comes as the Supreme Court has gutted protections against racial discrimination toward Black and minority communities by pretending we all live in a postracial society.