The Connecticut Democrat, who sits on the Senate foreign relations and appropriations committees, said the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was "determined to hide the cost and the consequences of this war from the American public". His accusation followed a trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia during which the Pentagon refused him entry to the largest US military installation in the region, while he saw firsthand damage from Iranian strikes in both countries.

Pentagon bars senator from Al Udeid air base

Murphy said he gave weeks of notice and submitted a written request to visit Al Udeid air base, the largest US military installation in the region. On arrival, he was told he would not have access to the base and would have no contact with military leadership.

He said he raised the visit with Admiral Brad Cooper, the US Central Command commander, who appeared surprised that military leaders had also been barred from speaking to him.

That advance notice, according to a senior Pentagon official, was that Murphy's office would not receive department support to access Al Udeid air base. The official said the decision was communicated by the office of the secretary of war for legislative affairs under Hegseth's 3 March travel directive, and that "The department applies the secretary's guidance evenly."

Riyadh embassy damage worse than publicly acknowledged

Two drones hit the US embassy compound in Riyadh in the early hours of 3 March, days after the US and Israel launched the war on 28 February. The strike set off a fire and sent black smoke over the district. The building was reportedly empty at the time and no injuries were reported, and Saudi Arabia's defense ministry initially described the damage as minor.

Murphy described the destruction he witnessed in Riyadh as extraordinary and much more damaging than the public has been led to believe. According to his account:

• •the drones damaged several floors and hit a crowded area of the embassy
• •part of that space is uninhabitable and will likely remain uninhabitable
• •some of the damage would not be repaired because the embassy is moving soon

He concluded that had the attack happened during the daytime, "there's no doubt that there would have been many, many Americans killed".

Qatar gas complex hit by Iranian strikes

In Qatar, Murphy visited Ras Laffan, the gas complex where Iranian drone strikes halted LNG production early in the war. He said 17% of Qatar's exports had been eliminated, probably for at least three years of repairs.

The slowdown was visible at the port, he said:

• •just one LNG tanker in port, compared with the usual six
• •about one tanker a day leaving rather than 10

Murphy threatens funding fight over war access

Murphy said he would draft language in the coming days requiring the Pentagon to give members of Congress access to overseas bases, for inclusion in next year's appropriations and defense authorization bills. He said that if the war continues into early next year, Congress should withhold defense funding unless it includes a provision to end the conflict.

He accused the administration of "giving its middle finger to the Congress, pretending as if we are totally irrelevant", and vowed accountability and investigations if Democrats win one or both chambers in next month's midterm elections. "We will potentially have power of both the House and the Senate," Murphy said of Democrats, "and we should make the end of the war" a priority.