The Biden administration’s clash with the Iran-allied Houthi forces in Yemen over the past few months appears to have cost U.S. taxpayers well over $100 million in munitions alone, with a total price tag that will soon easily clear $1 billion.

While U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military activity in the Middle East, did not provide specific figures when asked by The Washington Times, the cost includes regular downings of Houthi anti-ship missiles and drones over the Red Sea and a growing number of strikes on rebel targets in Yemen. The Pentagon does not typically reveal the exact weapons used in such instances, but National Security Correspondent Ben Wolfgang reports that they include SM-2 missile interceptors, costing $2.1 million each, and Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles, at $1.8 million each.

With the U.S. leading the multinational coalition formed in December to combat Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, the operation is proving an expensive distraction for the Pentagon, already stressed with supporting Ukraine, Israel’s war with Hamas, and China’s military expansion.

The U.S. Air Force is creating a stand-alone command to wage cyberwarfare and defend against anticipated cyberattacks, and the Pentagon’s fledgling Space Force is establishing new “units of action” to prevent enemies from attacking or degrading American satellite systems used for missile warning, navigation and communications.

Those are a few of the most notable developments within a major reorganization of the two service branches announced by senior service leaders this week. National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz reports that the restructuring blueprint calls for new weapons and high-technology warfighting capabilities to meet the challenge of a rising, more assertive China in East Asia and in space. The Air Force cites “military advancements” by China that aim to “deny U.S. power-projection capabilities” as a motivation for the reforms, which also call for an enhancement of aging U.S. nuclear forces — in particular the Air Force’s land-based missiles and nuclear bombers.

Beijing is watching closely. Mr. Gertz notes an article in the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Global Times that said the Air Force reorganization plan reflects a growing recognition by the Pentagon of China’s “many and multiplying advantages” in a head-to-head competition with the United States.

Washington must learn from Ukraine and prepare for China, according to retired Army Gen. Mark A. Milley. While Russia remains a significant concern because of its large nuclear arsenal, the former Joint Chiefs chairman told a forum on Tuesday that China is the leading threat to U.S. national security for the next 50 years, with Beijing holding “the power potential, the economic potential, the population potential [and] the military potential to equal or surpass the United States if we’re not careful.” Threat Status dove into these and a host of other issues in an exclusive interview with Gen. Milley as he prepared to retire last year.

Illegal immigration at the southern border dropped in January, with the Border Patrol reporting fewer than 125,000 arrests, a significant drop from the nearly 250,000 reported a month earlier. The Times’ Stephen Dinan examines what’s behind the shift in numbers, which came to light as the House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for mismanagement of the border, making him the first-ever sitting Cabinet secretary to be impeached. The vote, a second try for House Republicans after coming up short last week, was 214-213, with three Republicans siding with Democrats against the move. The case now goes to the Democratic-controlled Senate, which will take it up after returning from a two-week recess.

Former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie takes aim at President Biden’s Iran policy, arguing during an appearance on Washington Times Commentary Editor Kelly Sadler’s “Politically Unstable” podcast that the current White House team should learn a thing or two from past U.S. administrations, including those of Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan. “Reagan destroyed [Iran’s] fleet, destroyed their ability to produce oil, and they went silent,” says Mr. Wilkie, now a fellow with the America First Policy Institute. “Donald Trump killed the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and they did nothing. We are not doing anything [now] to put people or assets that the Iranian state considers vital to their survival at risk, and that is one of the great tragedies that I see unfolding with this administration,” Mr. Wilkie says.