Democrats slam US State Dept. over lack of help for Americans stuck in Mideast

By Reuters 3 March 2026, 5:54 pm

3 Edit

Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat-Connecticut, questions Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he testifies before a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing to examine the president's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of State on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 20, 2025. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

US Democratic lawmakers slam the country’s State Department for urging US citizens in the Middle East to evacuate three days after the US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran began, and as air travel is severely disrupted, saying it is a sign of a lack of proper planning.

On Monday, the Department urged Americans across 16 countries in the Middle East to immediately depart the region using “available commercial transportation” without offering any US-government-vouched means. The US embassy in Jerusalem, in a statement, said it was unable to offer assistance to Americans trying to leave.

“Warnings to citizens to evacuate 3 days into this war, when airspace is closed, is a clear sign of ZERO strategy and planning by the Trump admin,” Democratic Senator Andy Kim says in a post on X.

“Now Americans have limited options to evacuate at an extremely dangerous moment with no government assistance. This administration is failing its citizens,” Kim adds

Major Gulf aviation hubs, including the world’s busiest international airport in Dubai – which normally handles over 1,000 flights a day – remain closed for a fourth day, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded. Ticket prices have soared.

The State Department does not immediately respond to questions on how exactly Americans should be departing in the absence of available commercial flights or whether Washington is planning evacuation flights.

Yesterday, a US official said the department activated an inter-agency task force to manage the situation and had launched a dedicated WhatsApp channel, which it said has amassed 15,000 followers. It did not mention any government assistance for the evacuation of citizens.

“So the State Department is forcing everyone to immediately leave the region but is also refusing to help people leave the region,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy says in an X post. “Incompetence everywhere,” he adds.

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu from California urges the administration to schedule US government evacuation flights for the stranded Americans.