By Miltary.com | Created at 2026-10-08 14:25:55 | Updated at 2026-10-08 15:52:03
1 hour ago
Published Oct 8, 2026, 10:12 AM EDT
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) accused the administration of "a deliberate campaign of obfuscation." The Pentagon tied the denial to travel restrictions.
Published Oct 8, 2026, 10:12 AM EDT
A U.S. lawmaker has claimed that the Pentagon stopped him from accessing a military base in Qatar while he was visiting the Middle East, but defense officials said it was due to already imposed travel restrictions.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was the first Democratic lawmaker to visit the region since the war in Iran began more than seven months ago. He reportedly tried to visit the Al Udeid Air Base while traveling to Doha, Qatar and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of a congressional delegation, according to Reuters.
"This trip confirmed for me that there is an active, unprecedented, unconstitutional effort underway to hide the costs of this war and the implications of this war from Congress and the American people," Murphy told a group of journalists in Riyadh, per Reuters.
“I’ve never encountered anything like this in my time in the Senate, and it’s part of a deliberate campaign of obfuscation that my Republican colleagues in Congress should demand an end to,” Murphy added.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the Democrats' chief negotiator on the border security talks, speaks to reporters about their efforts to reach a deal that would unlock President Joe Biden's request for billions of dollars worth in military aid for Ukraine and national security, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)Military.com reached out to Murphy's office for further comment.
Pentagon Says Murphy Knew What Would Happen
Al Udeid is the largest U.S. base in the region, and has faced repeated attacks from Iran during the war.
Murphy also said that the Department of Defense (DOD) refused to set up a briefing for him on the ongoing war with Iran while he was in the region.
The Pentagon, in remarks provide to Military.com, claims that Murphy and his team knew the protocols before they ever embarked to the Middle East.
“Sen. Murphy’s office was informed before his trip to the Middle East that he would not receive Department of War support to access Al Udeid Air Base, consistent with the secretary of war’s directive on travel restrictions in the region ordered on March 3, 2026," a senior Pentagon official told Military.com.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a joint press conference with Portugal's Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at the Necessidades Palace, the Portuguese foreign ministry, in Lisbon. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)Murphy also claimed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio directly helped coordinate the trip and arranged high-level meetings with Gulf officials, according to The Hill.
The Iran war has cost over $45 billion, prompting a fierce clash between Congress and the Pentagon over transparency.
Beyond blocking base access, Hegseth has denied lawmakers an embassy briefing on theater operations and restricted senior military leaders from testifying without his clearance.
The secretary also ordered the removal of decades of classified strategy documents from the internal military network.
Nineteen service members have now died and over 800 Americans have been wounded in the Iran conflict, according to the Pentagon's own data.
