Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Kevin Warsh at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, April 21, 2026.
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In a letter first shared with CNBC, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding answers from the commander of the U.S. Transportation Command about its role in evacuating American citizens from the Middle East following the outbreak of the Iran war.
The Massachusetts Democrat has generally criticized the Trump administration’s response to Americans stranded in the region since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. But in a letter sent late Tuesday to TRANSCOM commander Gen. Randall Reed, he questioned whether accurate information about the response was provided to the office.
Warren said Transcom told his office in March that it had not received any communication from the State Department about helping evacuate Americans working for non-U.S. government agencies. Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which Warren serves, on March 12, Reid told senators that the State Department had requested assistance on February 28.
“There were significant discrepancies between what was communicated to my office prior to the hearing and the information you provided at the hearing,” Warren wrote. “And it has been more than a month since that hearing, and my office has not received any information from your order to corroborate your testimony.”
Transcom, the Pentagon division that coordinates land, air and sea transportation, did not respond to a request for comment.
In the days after the war began, Americans in the region reported feeling isolated. Some complained that they were receiving mixed signals from the U.S. government.
On March 2, the State Department warned Americans from 14 countries to “depart now,” and the scramble began. Some Americans said they were left to fend for themselves, but at the time the State Department said it was increasing flights to help Americans leave the area.
Congressional caseworkers told CNBC in March that the process of arranging safe transportation from the Middle East was confusing and, in some cases, frightening.
“People in the Middle East just want to leave, but there’s no way to leave, they’re scared, they’re scared, they feel abandoned,” one Democratic caseworker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said at the time. “Their families here are terrified and wondering why the U.S. government has not yet brought their loved ones home.”
In his letter, Warren asked for more information about Transcom’s previous efforts to evacuate Americans and its ability to evacuate Americans in Lebanon if a ceasefire is not achieved in Lebanon.
“The American people have a right to know whether the Trump administration used every means available to evacuate Americans from the Middle East after President Trump launched an illegal and unconstitutional war and endangered the lives of American citizens across the region,” Warren wrote.
