House delays CENTCOM hearing as U.S.-Iran tensions intensify

House lawmakers will not question the Pentagon’s top Middle East commander next week after the Republican majority pushed the CENTCOM hearing to late May, leaving the chamber without a public posture hearing while U.S. and Iranian forces remain in active conflict. The postponed witness appears to be Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, whose job sits at the center of Operation Epic Fury, the campaign CENTCOM says is striking Iranian targets and dismantling Iran’s security apparatus.

The timing has widened the oversight gap on Capitol Hill. The Senate Armed Services Committee has already scheduled a full committee hearing on the posture of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command for April 23 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, while the House Armed Services Committee’s public calendar lists hearings on April 15, 16 and 17 but no immediate CENTCOM session. That leaves the House behind the Senate as lawmakers try to question the war from public view rather than in closed briefings.

Pressure for that public accountability has been building for weeks. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Jack Reed and Jeanne Shaheen demanded that Secretaries Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio appear under oath in public hearings, saying the administration owes Congress answers on the war in Iran. CBS News has also reported that Hegseth is tentatively slated to testify before the House Armed Services Committee on April 29, which would be his first public House appearance under oath since the conflict began.

The delay fits a pattern of wartime postponements that have repeatedly slowed congressional scrutiny. In June 2025, a Senate hearing with Kurilla was postponed as tensions in the Middle East rose, and the current House delay again comes when the questions are most urgent: who is shaping the war plan, what limits exist on escalation, and how much Congress is willing to cede while operations continue. By moving the hearing to late May, House Republicans also shield themselves from immediate public confrontation over war powers, while the administration gets more time before senior commanders face open questioning.