A rough stretch for US air travel, an escalating Middle East standoff, and signs of economic strain are all colliding at once, with Washington mostly pointing fingers instead of fixing things.

• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy defended Friday's emergency ground stop of US flights, saying investigators still don't know if a router failure, a bad installation, or sabotage caused the outage, even as a separate incident saw two planes collide on the ground in Miami.
• Duffy refused to apologize, instead blaming decades of underinvestment by both parties and asking for billions more in funding; critics note the air traffic control crisis is being used to push for privatizing the FAA, a longstanding conservative goal.
• Iran and the US are trading warnings near the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran saying it fired drones at US forces in Bahrain and still holds a large stockpile of ballistic missiles, while Israel pushes Trump to strike and the region braces for possible renewed fighting.
• Senator Chris Van Hollen, challenging Chuck Schumer for Senate Democratic leader, is campaigning on ending US funding for the Iran conflict and taking a more populist economic line.
• Everyday economic stress is showing up in layoffs at a GM plant and confusing new digital-only pricing at Walmart, while a newly elected progressive House member from Minnesota is pushing for Medicare for all and taxing billionaires.

Outlook: Expect continued finger-pointing over the FAA funding fight and a tense wait to see whether the Iran standoff escalates into direct conflict.