Congressional Research Service (CRS)

The Congressional Research Service entered the Iran conflict record as the source of the most authoritative Independent count of US aircraft losses: 42 aircraft lost or damaged through 20 May 2026, including 24 MQ-9 Reapers. The figure stood behind coverage of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's 26 May claim to have shot down another Reaper and fired on an F-35 and a surveillance drone, claims the US military did not address. The Pentagon had not published a cumulative loss figure, so the CRS total gave journalists and lawmakers a baseline from Congress's own non-partisan research body.

CRS is the research Arm of the US Congress. It was established in 1914 as the Legislative Reference Service and renamed in 1970. It sits within the Library of Congress, with about 600 policy analysts, attorneys and subject experts. It writes confidential and public reports for members and committees across every area of federal policy, and it does not advocate policy.

Its guides on House procedure also inform coverage of Congress itself; Lowdown drew on one when House Republicans chose Jim Jordan as minority leader on 10 November 2026.