Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts and ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, during a hearing in Washington on April 21, 2026.
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The State Department did not task U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) with evacuating non-federal Americans from the Middle East after the outbreak of the Iran war, according to a response the State Department provided to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and first shared with CNBC.
In a May letter to Warren, which received a request from the Massachusetts Democratic Party for more information about the early March evacuation operation, Transcom reported that it had relocated more than 1,500 State Department personnel. However, in response to a series of questions about relocating other U.S. citizens in the region, the command said it was “not tasked with relocating U.S. civilians (other than U.S. government personnel).”
“The Trump administration put the American people at risk by starting an illegal war in the Middle East, then failed the American people by failing to use all available means to quickly and safely evacuate them,” Warren said in a statement to CNBC. “Donald Trump’s Iran war has endangered American service members and civilians overseas, increased costs for families at home, and destroyed our country’s standing on the world stage. It must end now.”
CNBC has reached out to the State Department and TRANSCOM for comment.
Warren has criticized the Trump administration’s war with Iran and efforts to rescue Americans stranded in the region after the conflict began in late February.
She questioned TRANSCOM commander Gen. Randall Reed about his response at a Senate hearing in March, and then sent a letter to TRANSCOM requesting more information in April.
TRANSCOM has previously been tasked by the State Department to remove American citizens from volatile geopolitical situations.
In 2021, Transcom supported large-scale evacuation efforts as U.S. forces and others were withdrawing from Afghanistan. And during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Transcom worked with the State Department to evacuate nearly 15,000 Americans from Lebanon, one of the largest efforts of its kind in recent history, according to the Government Accountability Office.
“We have a right to know whether the Trump administration used every means available to evacuate American citizens 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 in an April letter to Transcom.
After the attacks on Iran began in late February, Americans in the region complained that communication from the U.S. government was confusing and at times confusing.
In early March, the State Department issued a warning to Americans to “leave now,” and the scramble began. Some Americans were stuck in the region for days or even weeks, seeking commercial and government routes from the Middle East.
In response to a question from Warren, Reid said in Senate testimony in early March that Transcom helped airlift hundreds of Americans out of the region. However, Warren said Transcom told his office in March that it had not been contacted by the State Department to assist in the evacuation of Americans who work for non-U.S. government agencies.
Given the apparent discrepancy, Warren asked for clarification.
“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 in April. “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.”
In March, Warren led a delegation from Massachusetts in a letter to the State Department criticizing the administration’s lack of preparation for evacuating Americans and demanding answers about its response.
“Since February 28, more than 120,000 American citizens have safely returned to the United States from the Middle East,” the State Department said in a two-page response in May. “The Department arranged more than 60 charter flights, coordinated ground transportation options, and safely evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East while continuing to provide security updates and travel assistance.”
“Subject to local security conditions and available transportation, we stand ready to assist Americans who wish to leave the region,” the State Department said in a statement.
