WASHINGTON, D.C. – After U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) last week called for immediate Inspector General (IG) oversight of Donald Trump’s costly, illegal war against Iran, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) announced that it will serve as lead IG for Operation Epic Fury, following designation by the Chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). In her letter to CIGIE Chair Cheryl Mason last week Friday, Duckworth demanded Chair Mason do her job and comply with federal law by designating a lead IG to conduct comprehensive oversight over Trump’s disastrous war of choice that has cost American taxpayers at least $29 billion, which remains a lowball estimate.
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“96 days since Donald Trump attacked Iran and ensnarled our brave American servicemembers in another foreign war, the American people are worse off, our troops are under greater threat and it becomes clearer by the day that this President has no plan to prevent this needless conflict from becoming another forever war,” said Duckworth. “The American people deserve transparency about this Administration’s abject failure to plan for the chaos that has been unleashed and their unacceptable lack of strategy to end the pain being inflicted on our servicemembers and economy. Today’s announcement is just the beginning. Now, as lead IG, the DoD IG must work expeditiously with his counterparts to conduct independent oversight of all programs and operations in support of President Trump’s costly, disastrous war, and—as I have requested—brief me on these matters without delay.”
In her letter last week, Duckworth also requested that the designated lead IG deliver a briefing on their plan to conduct oversight of Trump’s war—and any resources or authorities they may need from Congress to get the job done—no later than June 26, 2026.
Duckworth has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s unauthorized war in Iran since it began. She is one of the Senate Six—the original group of Senators who have been forcing votes on War Powers Resolutions that would cease hostilities in Iran, which Republicans have shamefully blocked now seven times. Ahead of the Senate’s vote on her own War Powers resolution Duckworth gave impassioned remarks drawing on her personal experience serving in our nation’s last war of choice in the Middle East, imploring Republicans to remember their oaths and vote to help rein in this unhinged President—which they did not.
