U.S. government watchdogs announced Wednesday they’ve begun a legally-mandated review of the Iran war.
The Inspectors General for the Departments of Defense, State and U.S. Agency for International Development “commenced legally mandated, whole-of-government oversight coordination for Operation Epic Fury,” their offices announced in a press release. Such an inquiry is required by the Inspector General Act for any “military operation that exceeds 60 days as an overseas contingency operation or receipt of a notification thereof."
Officials with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) tapped Pentagon Inspector General Platte B. Moring III to lead the effort on May 12, their offices noted.
A letter from CIGIE to Moring provides new insight into the trigger for the naming of DOW OIG to lead. The letter from CIGIE notifies Morie of the designation as lead inspector general for Operation Epic Fury “as referenced in the classified letter dated May 4, 2026” from the Under Secretary of War, Personnel and Readiness. It is not clear what’s in the classified letter, however.
“This Lead Inspector General designation not only follows the framework required in the IG Act, it also reflects the extensive experience of the DoW OIG with comprehensive oversight of overseas contingency operations,” Moring said in a statement announcing the oversight. “We are collaborating closely with our colleagues to promote accountability and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
The Pentagon’s OIG in an online explanation defines an overseas contingency operation when it lasts or is expected to last more than 60 days, is designated by the secretary “as a contingency operation in which members of the Armed Forces are or may become involved in military actions, operations, or hostilities against an enemy of the United States or against an opposing military force” or “results in the call or order to, or retention on, active duty of members of the Uniformed Services under specific legal authorities—during a war or a national emergency declared by the President or Congress.”
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Senator Tammy Duckworth in late May, before the oversight was publicly announced, called for its launch.
“No matter how much the Trump administration engages in semantic games to avoid oversight and accountability, the reality remains: overseas contingency operations in or around Iran are ongoing,” Duckworth wrote in a letter to the chair of CIGIE. “
Duckworth wrote that the President’s actions against Iran met the legal definition of a contingency operation “both because the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) designated OEFU as such—as reflected in DoD’s categorization of OEFU as an OCO in the Defense Casualty Analysis System—and because the contingency operation involves the federalization of National Guard units to Title 10 active duty during a declared national emergency with respect to Iran. Military operations very similar to those in the days prior to the cessation of OEFU have continued and exceeded 60 days at the end of April, triggering your statutory obligations under title 5.”
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Under the War Powers Act, a separate law, the U.S. president cannot keep U.S. troops in active hostilities beyond 60 days without congressional approval. With the Iran war’s start of Feb. 28, the 60-day threshold would have been April 30.
Trump administration officials have argued that, legally, hostilities concluded on April 7, after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire.
“For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28 have terminated,” an administration official told Scripps News. President Trump notified Congressional leaders of that determination in a formal letter on May 1 obtained by Scripps News.
The U.S. military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has remained in effect, and both the U.S. military and Iranian forces have traded fire repeatedly since the alleged ceasefire took effect, though officials have not indicated the ceasefire is broken. .
As recently as this week, the U.S. Central Command disabled an oil tanker headed for an Iranian port and carried out what it described as defensive strikes on military targets near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, for its part struck an airport in Kuwait Wednesday and previously, shot off drones at targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, though such attacks were intercepted or failed with no harm to American troops, U.S. officials said.
Appearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday for his first public testimony since the war began, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers “The war is over,” as Democratic lawmakers insisted the opposite was true.
“We're no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military, because Epic Fury is over," Rubio reiterated in a Wednesday hearing.
A State Dept. official added, "As a general matter, the State Department complies with all legally required oversight. We do not comment on active OIG investigations." The official would not speak to questions about the length of the conflict.
