Democrats seek hearings on deadly Kuwait strike

More than 20 Democrats across both chambers of Congress are calling for public hearings into reported safety failures surrounding a deadly Iranian drone strike on a U.S. base in Kuwait and the military’s treatment of survivors.

The attack on a tactical operations center at Port Shuaiba killed six Army soldiers and injured more than 30 service members on the second day of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which began at the end of February.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., said news reports and allegations from whistleblowers to their offices indicate the Pentagon was unprepared for the attack and failed to respond appropriately.

In a letter sent Monday, the lawmakers led colleagues in asking the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees to hold hearings on the strike, citing the Pentagon’s stonewalling of repeated requests for information.

“As the administration continues to ask Congress for more resources for this war, we can no longer afford to wait for DoD to deign when they are going to answer these questions,” the lawmakers wrote, referring to the Department of Defense.

The committee chairmen — Republicans Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama — did not respond to requests for comment.

Democrats said they are seeking answers to reports of inadequate defenses and a lack of an evacuation plan at the targeted base as well as claims that injured troops were denied timely care and the families of the fallen were mistreated.

Warren and Ryan, a former Army intelligence officer, said a survivor of the attack told their offices that families were misled about the purpose of meetings with Pentagon officials, believing one meeting was a ceremony rather than a briefing on their relatives’ deaths.

The survivor also said some Purple Hearts were mailed to families and survivors rather than formally presented in ceremonies, as is required under a Pentagon memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year. The medal is sent by mail when requested.

Lawmakers said another survivor raised questions about the integrity of the Army’s investigation of the strike, noting it was initially assigned to a public affairs officer under the command of a general present during the attack.

A more senior officer who later took over the probe ranked lower than two commanders present during the strike, according to the letter. Lawmakers said they were concerned about the objectivity of the investigation, which the Pentagon has yet to provide to Congress.

The letter also cites several news reports detailing how injured troops faced delays in evacuation and treatment, including being denied inpatient care at a military hospital in Germany because they had not arrived on a formal medical evacuation flight.

Some survivors, including those with traumatic brain injuries, reportedly waited months to see neurologists and other specialists, according to the letter.

“These reports raise serious questions about the Department’s lack of preparedness to respond to casualties from the war,” lawmakers wrote. “It is unacceptable that over six months since the strike, service members injured in the attack are still struggling to get the care they need.”

A Pentagon spokesperson on Tuesday declined to comment, saying the department will respond “directly to the authors” of congressional correspondence.

Democrats said there is precedent for holding hearings on the Pentagon’s response to attacks on U.S. facilities, including a 2013 hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee on a 2012 terrorist attack on a diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

“Holding a hearing on the Port Shuaiba attack would provide DOD a public forum to answer the questions already posed by Congress as well as address additional allegations regarding the treatment of military families,” the lawmakers wrote.