Axios

The Senate on Wednesday rejected an effort to advance legislation that would restrict President Trump from using further military action in Iran, despite overwhelming support from Democrats.

Why it matters: Congress has now denied repeated attempts to rein in Trump's military interventions in the Middle East and South America.

Apple unveiled its cheapest MacBook ever Wednesday with the MacBook Neo, signaling a shifting laptop market.

The big picture: The memory chip and RAM crisis, ignited by the AI boom, is pushing smartphone and laptop developers to recalibrate their plans for products, with many companies cutting products altogether.

The Pentagon says it's threatening to blacklist top American AI lab Anthropic without putting similar restrictions on Chinese rivals.

Why it matters: By penalizing a domestic leader for its safety standards, the U.S. is creating a market opening for cheaper, unregulated models from competing countries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the White House for clarifications earlier this week after learning Trump administration officials might be communicating with the Iranian regime, two sources with knowledge of the issue said.

Why it matters: Netanyahu's outreach suggests the Israeli government is concerned about a scenario in which the U.S. pursues a ceasefire before all of Israel's war objectives have been achieved.

The leader of an Iranian unit that sought to assassinate President Trump was "hunted down and killed," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.

The big picture: The plot to target then-candidate Trump has seemingly fueled his ire toward Tehran, with him recently telling ABC News that the U.S. "got" Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei "before he got me."

Americans are likely to feel the impact of President Trump's war with Iran in their wallets.

The big picture: The conflict is pushing up energy prices, and there will likely also be a ripple impact on industries connected to them.

Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) wants the Pentagon's nascent Artificial Intelligence Futures Steering Committee to identify China's top AI influencers, examine the country's security practices and investigate what sabotage of frontier models might look like, according to a letter Axios obtained exclusively.

Why it matters: AI is supercharging the Washington-Beijing face-off.

• And military employment of the technology is driving one of the largest news stories of the year.

The U.S., Israel and Iran have been at war for days. The fighting has thus far:

1. Produced several combat firsts, including in drone, missile and fighter performances;
2. Supercharged debate about war powers and congressional oversight, or lack thereof;
3. And killed many, including six American troops.

The big picture: The conflict is slowly expanding, as Iran lashes out at neighbors and tankers, Hezbollah lobs missiles from Lebanon and European governments mull their respective roles going forward.

Team USA's Paralympic roster includes multi-sport athletes, a pilot and a Purple Heart recipient.

The big picture: The United States is sending 72 competitors to Italy, five more than it did for the 2022 Games in Beijing.

U.S. and Ecuadorian forces announced drug-trafficking military crackdown operations in Ecuador on Tuesday.

The big picture: U.S. Southern Command in a Tuesday night statement said the operations targeted "Designated Terrorist Organizations" and hailed the cooperation as "a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism."