Ten Democratic lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday requesting information about civilian protection efforts. The letter contained 20 questions concerning the Minab school strike and the Defense Department's civilian harm mitigation and response (CHMR) action plan. Lawmakers requested answers by July 9. "The Trump administration — potentially in violation of federal law — has defunded and impeded civilian protection efforts," the lawmakers asserted.

A U.S. strike killed dozens of children and teachers at a school in Iran in February. Over 150 students and staff members of the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school were killed in a missile strike. Open-source investigative outlets surfaced video showing a U.S.-made Tomahawk missile likely was responsible for the strike. The Washington Post reported that the school in Minab was on a U.S. target list and "may have been mistaken for a military site." The Pentagon stated that this incident is under investigation.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the incident in March, stating, "The command investigation will take as long as necessary to address all the matters surrounding this incident." The questions from lawmakers included requests for the latest CHMR staffing and funding numbers, as well as an explanation for why the department was not cooperative with the inspector general's inquiry. A Defense Department inspector general report described civilian protection efforts as largely "inactive." A May inspector general's report also stated that defense leadership "withheld access" to department tools designed to track the program's implementation.

In spring 2025, the Defense Department scrapped the CHMR mission, according to current and former staffers. Current and former personnel indicated that the civilian protection mission had been cut by about 90% by the time of the Iran school strike. The CHMR action plan itself was adopted in 2022. Rep. Adam Smith told Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll at a hearing in May, "You are in violation of the law right now on civilian harm." Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Sen. Mark Kelly, and Rep. Jason Crow were among the other lawmakers who signed the letter.