Our corporate network is blocking https calls outbound and it seems that any call to documentDB is by default a https call so they aren't making it through and the connection gets closed.
I am using the Node.js Azure SDK.
Is there a way to override and force it to be http instead?
No. This is by design. There is sensitive info being transmitted in these requests, including your keys and data on the return leg. You don't want that stuff going over the wire in clear text.
If you had the .NET SDK you could switch to Tcp protocol. But if they're blocking http outbound (who does that?) then they're probably blocking that too.