John Cornyn's filibuster flip: From the Politics Desk

Plus, how Vladimir Putin could be an unintended winner of the Iran war.

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'Go away': Cornyn dismisses questions about support of filibuster

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It’s an unwelcome reversal of fortunes for Ukraine’s European allies who’d been predicting that Russia’s wartime economy was near collapse, raising their hopes that Ukraine could battle Putin’s larger military to a draw.

Despite U.S. and Israeli forces quickly gaining control of Iran’s airspace, Iran has shown more resilience against the aerial onslaught than many experts had anticipated. Tehran’s decision to strike its Arab neighbors, drawing them into the conflict and widening it to the entire Gulf region, was initially viewed by many as a strategic error. But it’s helped Iran trigger a global energy crisis, hitting the U.S. and the rest of the world where they are most vulnerable: their economies.

Without evidence that Iran had mined the Strait of Hormuz, even its threat to target commercial ships in the narrow passageway brought tanker traffic to a halt, immediately denying the global market 20% of its usual oil supply. The energy prices have been more volatile than at any time in recent market history, according to The Wall Street Journal. And with Iran controlling the Strait, it is able to export more oil than before the war.

With markets already edgy on Monday, oil prices shot up from around $80 per barrel to $120. The stock market plummeted. Less than an hour before the stock market closed, President Donald Trump told reporters the war would end “soon.” Oil prices plunged, and stocks recovered. Two hours later, the president sent mixed signals about the war’s timeline, saying it would be a “short excursion.” Moments later, he added “we could still go further and we’re going to go further.”

Higher oil prices have been a lifeline for Putin. One of the first steps the administration took to cushion the war’s effect on prices was to grant Russia a waiver to resume selling oil to India. Just before the war, the U.S. had threatened India with tariffs unless it stopped buying Russian oil. The White House said the Treasury Department is considering moves on other sanctions as well.

One likely legislative casualty: a long-stalled Senate bill with 85 sponsors to punish Putin by imposing tariffs on countries that buy Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports is again stalled. Only last month, before the war, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., promised his colleagues it would be voted on by April, and that Trump had committed to sign it.