Vance to Head Fraud Task Force, Trump Pressures Allies on Iran, SBF Vying for Pardon: AM Update 3/17

President Trump launches a new federal task force to investigate welfare benefits fraud nationwide, headed by Vice President JD Vance. President Trump presses U.S. allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz during Operation Epic Fury while criticizing countries that rely heavily on the waterway but have been reluctant to join the effort. A powerful bomb cyclone blasts the Midwest with historic snowfall and mass flight cancellations as an early-season heat wave pushes temperatures into the triple digits across parts of the Southwest. Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried lobbies for a presidential pardon from prison, but even some...