U.S. crude prices jumped above $80 per barrel as the escalating conflict involving Iran disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passageway for global energy trade that carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply. Tanker traffic through the strait has largely halted following attacks and threats from Iran, including reports from Iranian state media that a missile struck an oil tanker and a British Navy report of a major explosion involving another vessel near Iraq.

President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to strongly defend his economic record, while Trump touched on retirement savings incentives, congressional stock trading bans, immigration restrictions, tariffs, and foreign policy flashpoints, including warnings to Iran and comments on Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro; the data center and energy provisions stood out as among the most forward-looking and economically significant elements of the speech. President Trump framed the issue as both an economic and an infrastructure crisis, arguing that the explosion of AI-driven data centers is straining the nation’s aging electric grid and driving up household utility costs. 

The House Agriculture Committee has unveiled a long-delayed effort to reauthorize the nation’s sweeping farm and food policy law.

Relations between the United States and Canada are under significant strain as a sweeping trade dispute centered on tariffs, infrastructure leverage, and broader geopolitical alignments intensifies. At the same time, Trump’s broad tariff regime targeting Canadian steel, aluminum, and other imports has provoked retaliation from Canadian authorities, disrupted deeply integrated supply chains, and fueled political backlash within the United States over rising costs and trade policy direction.

On February 4, 2026, Senate Finance Democrats put a spotlight on rising drug costs ahead of the midterms, pushing reforms aimed at lowering prescription prices and increasing transparency, while President Trump prepared to launch a new website, TrumpRx, allowing Americans to buy medicines directly from manufacturers at discounted rates.