Pentagon’s independent watchdog found that Trump administration defunded and blocked reforms to protect civilians during war, potentially violating federal law

Text of Letter (PDF)

July 7, 2026 - Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has led nine members of Congress in pressing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) defunding and deprioritizing of programs that prevent and respond to civilian harm in war. The letter follows a new report by the DoD Inspector General (DoD IG), which found that under Hegseth’s leadership, DoD has put service members and civilians at risk and has potentially violated federal law. It also follows the recent U.S. military strikes on Iranian water treatment facilities, which damaged thousands of civilians’ access to drinking water.  

“The Trump administration’s military adventurism overseas, combined with its obvious disregard for civilians, do not make the American people or our service members safer. We () request clarification about the steps the Department is taking to address these deficiencies and to protect civilians in line with the Department’s strategic, legal, and moral obligations,” wrote the lawmakers. 

Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined in signing the letter. 

Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) also joined in signing the letter. 

In May, the DoD IG released a review of DoD’s implementation of its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) Action Plan (CHMR-AP), which outlined critical steps to prevent, mitigate, and respond to civilian harm. The DoD IG’s report found that the Trump administration may have violated federal law by defunding and blocked civilian protection efforts. 

The DoD IG report confirms that all of the objectives of the plan – including training for assessing and investigating civilian harm – are “at risk” under Hegseth’s leadership. The report also found that the Trump administration’s failure to implement the plan means DoD is failing to comply with congressionally-mandated obligations to protect civilians during armed conflict. 

“These revelations make real the concerns that we have previously raised about your complete ‘disregard for the strategic, legal, and moral imperative to minimize civilian harm,’” the lawmakers said. 

During the DoD IG’s investigation, staff and combatant commands warned that eliminating CHMR funding and personnel “harms readiness” and “increases risk to military personnel and objectives and mission success.” 

“The Department’s failure to implement the CHMR-AP has profound consequences for civilians in conflict zones and makes service members’ jobs harder and riskier,” the lawmakers continued. 

DoD officials, veteran and family organizations, and other national security experts have repeatedly emphasized the importance of civilian protection. In their confirmation hearings, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said that civilian harm “risks degrading our credibility and trust and puts troops at risk,” and SOCOM Commander Frank Bradley called protecting civilians “critical to our success.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, has also touted the positive impacts of the DoD CHMR programs at combatant commands.

The report also revealed that DoD failed to cooperate with the office’s investigation, including by blocking investigators’ attempts to observe an implementation meeting and withholding access to DoD’s implementation tracking tools. 

The lawmakers pressed Secretary Hegseth to explain DoD’s failure to implement civilian protection policies, account for changes in resourcing and staffing for civilian protection efforts, explain what DoD is doing to comply with federal law requiring civilian protection policies and institutions, and provide any analysis DoD has done on the impact of recent strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran by July 19, 2026. 

Senator Warren is a long-time champion of civilian harm prevention reforms for the U.S. military: 

• In April 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Van Hollen (D-Md.) led nine senators in opening a new investigation into Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s role in weakening civilian harm prevention programs and the catastrophic civilian impacts of President Trump’s war in Iran.
• In March 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) raised her concerns to the commanders of United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) about the Trump administration’s sidelining of the military’s Judge Advocate General Corps (JAGs), who are responsible for providing independent legal advice to commanders. This sidelining risks increasing the chances of civilian harm as the war against Iran continues.
• In March 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, along with Senators Van Hollen (D-Md.), Kaine (D-Va.), Schatz (D-Hawaii), Senate Democratic Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) and 41 colleagues, pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a full investigation on the airstrikes on a school in Minab, Iran, and other civilian casualties in the Trump administration’s war on Iran. The senators are also calling for accountability for those responsible.
• In March 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), spoke on the floor of the Senate, calling on Congress to end President Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran and investigate civilian harm in Iran.
• In December 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Schatz (D-Hawaii) led 10 senators in launching an investigation into the role of the U.S. military in distributing humanitarian assistance to Gaza following the October ceasefire.
• In July 2025, At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Personnel Subcommittee, secured commitments from the nominees to be Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), on integrating and protecting reforms from Republican and Democratic administrations on civilian harm prevention. Senator Warren also secured support from Vice Admiral Bradley to partner with outside experts to conduct a longitudinal study of blast overpressure.
• In March 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, questioned the  nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)) about his vision to prioritize civilian harm prevention. 
• In December 2024, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) sent a letter requesting the Department of Defense Inspector General investigate reports that the DoD mishandled a case involving  U.S. Marines killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq, and DoD’s continued efforts to cover up the alleged war crimes.
• In March 2024, at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the Commander of the United States Central Command and Commander of the United States Africa Command about measures needed to prevent and respond to civilian harm caused by weapons and assistance provided by the United States to its military partners.
• In December 2023, following reports that Israel was using explosive weapons against civilian targets, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Kaine (D-Va.), Sanders (I-Vt.), Merkley (D-Ore.), and Heinrich (D-N.M.), wrote to President Joe Biden, pushing for closer oversight of Israel’s use of U.S. weapons to ensure the weapons will not be used to cause preventable civilian harm. 
• In September 2023, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Department of Defense to improve investigations into civilian harm by collaborating with civil society organizations on the ground.
• In July 2023, Senators Warren (D-Mass.),and Van Hollen (D-Maryland), along with Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), sent a letter to then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, with concerns that a May 2023 U.S. airstrike in Syria may have killed a civilian. The lawmakers pushed the Defense Department to publicly release as much of their internal investigation into the airstrike as possible.
• In December 2022, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, raising concerns that the Department of Defense’s (DoD) September 2022 report to Congress on civilian casualties appeared to undercount civilian casualties from U.S. military operations and that DoD was not exercising its authority to make amends to civilian victims and survivors.
• In September 2022, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Sanders (I-Vt.) and Lee (R-Utah) sent letters to the Department of Defense and the Department of State, calling on the Departments to thoroughly investigate how U.S. military support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen may have led to civilian harm and analyze to the effectiveness of civilian harm reduction efforts by the Saudi and Emirati governments. 
• In April 2022, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Markey (D-Mass.), Leahy (D-Vt.), Durbin (D-Ill.), Merkley (D-Ore.), Sanders (I-Vt.), and Van Hollen (D-Md.) sent a letter to Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, III, urging the Department of Defense to brief Congress on its progress in preventing civilian harm and highlights a series of issues and priorities that the DoD should focus on in the CHMR-AP. 
• In March 2022, during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the Commanders of the United States Central Command and United States Africa Command on the steps they are taking to prevent civilian harm, following the release of Defense Secretary Austin’s directive to the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop an action plan to prevent and investigate civilian harm.
• In February 2022, during a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), questioned LTG Michael “Erik” Kurilla’s, then-nominee to be General and Commander of United States Central Command, about civilian casualties that have resulted from U.S. operations. 
• In November 2021, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), then-Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, requesting that the Committee launch a formal inquiry to review the findings and implications of a recent New York Times report detailing how the U.S. military hid an airstrike in Baghuz, Syria that killed dozens of civilians and was flagged as a potential war crime by legal analysts.
  
  Source: Senator Elizabeth Warren