House and Senate Democrats are demanding answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following MS NOW’s reporting that the Navy left military families stranded in Bahrain during the outbreak of the Iran war and failed to adequately support their transitions out of the region in the months that followed.

In a joint letter to Hegseth obtained first by MS NOW, Democratic lawmakers described the Defense Department’s handling of the situation, specifically department leadership’s decision to deny an extension of financial assistance to the families, as “unacceptable.”

They also want more information about how “the incapacitation” of Naval Support Activity Bahrain after Iranian strikes in late February “has impacted U.S. operations in the Iran War and the broader Middle East.”

The lawmakers directly cited MS NOW’s reporting on the subject in their letter, which was signed by 30 Democratic lawmakers from both chambers, including Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

They are demanding answers by Nov. 13 on the decisions surrounding the financial assistance, internally known as safe haven entitlements.

“The families evacuated from NSA Bahrain have been put through hell. Parents shielding their kids from bomb blasts, homes abandoned in a panic, cherished memories lost forever and now facing huge personal financial burdens,” Rep. Patrick Ryan, D-N.Y., told MS NOW in a statement explaining the reasons for sending the letter.

“It is unbelievable the DoD leadership denied the Navy’s request to extend safe haven entitlements. The Pentagon has a TRILLION dollar budget, and it’s unconscionable that Pete Hegseth is choosing to leave these families in the lurch. We’re demanding answers and accountability,” Ryan said, who is also a military veteran.

Naval Support Activity Bahrain, which has served as the headquarters for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet for more than three decades, was severely damaged in a series of attacks at the start of the Iran war.

More than 1,250 people were evacuated from the base after retaliatory strikes from Iran commenced, including military families, the Navy has said. Spouses of service members described the evacuation as disorganized and “utterly chaotic.”

In the months that followed, families described moving between multiple continents and draining their financial savings, all while soothing children traumatized by the explosions that rocked their homes in Bahrain. Some families were not evacuated from the country until two weeks into the conflict.

With safe haven entitlements coming to an end, families will have to cover the costs of moving themselves.

Payments are set to stop as soon as a family signs a permanent lease, which they were told to do by Dec. 1. Many of the families’ belongings remain stuck in Bahrain for the foreseeable future, meaning the families of service members will have to furnish their new lodgings on their own dime.

The lawmakers specifically called out the Pentagon’s decision to add to the families’ financial burdens in their letter, calling it “bad policy.”

“Requiring servicemembers to pay out of pocket for expenses that were forced upon them by your mismanagement of the Iran War is wrong,” the lawmakers wrote. “You must fix this.”

The Democratic lawmakers wrote that they want to know “what processes, if any, are in place for evacuees to receive reimbursement for expenses incurred,” as well as how many potential reimbursement cases are pending before the Pentagon.

“This is yet another way that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are failing our troops, military families, and Defense Department civilians. It is unacceptable to make servicemembers and their families to pay out of pocket for expenses that happened because of Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth’s foolish, reckless war and their poor planning,” Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., a former Navy officer, said.

“The Department of Defense needs to fix this. Hegseth should be fired — it’s way overdue. If he doesn’t resign, the Congress should take action. I will keep fighting in the House Armed Services Committee to support our servicemembers and their families,” Deluzio said.

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From MS Now.