U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is back from spending several days in the Middle East.
While on the trip, he was denied entry to the largest U.S. military base in the region — and blamed Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“There is an active cover-up going on right now,” Murphy said. “It is absolutely ordinary for members of Congress to travel to areas of conflict and get to talk directly to the military leaders and the soldiers that are involved in the conflict, and see for ourselves the damage that has been done to our bases and equipment.”
The third-term Senator cited past trips to active war zones, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
In a statement, a Senior Department of War official told WSHU that Murphy had been told he would be denied access before he left for the trip.
“Senator 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,” the official said. “That decision was communicated in advance by the Office of the Secretary of War for Legislative Affairs. The Department applies the Secretary’s guidance evenly.”
In a press briefing on Thursday, Murphy reaffirmed the Pentagon’s statement: he had been told before his travels that he would not have access to the base. However, he said, he left the U.S. under the impression that he may have been able to receive a briefing from military officials during the trip.
No such briefing was provided.
Murphy claims he is the first Senate Democrat to travel to the region since the war in Iran started. He met with leaders in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, conversations he described as difficult but productive.
They included talk about business deals between the country’s leaders and the Trump administration and family.
“I told the Qataris that no matter how much pressure they got from Donald Trump to gift that plane, they should have said no, because it is obvious what’s happening here: the plane is going to be in U.S. hands for a matter of years, and then Trump is going to take it with him,” Murphy said. “Knowing that this was a corrupt deal, the Qataris should have said no.”
“I also spoke very candidly to Mohammed bin Salman, told him that his investments in Jared Kushner’s private equity fund and his invitation to Trump and his business entities to partner on projects in Saudi Arabia was an enormous problem for the U.S.-Saudi relationship in the long run,” he continued.
Murphy is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.