The House Foreign Affairs Committee is moving forward with a motion to declare Secretary of State Antony Blinken to be in contempt of Congress after the top Biden administration officials failed to comply with an order to testify about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Next week, the committee will hold a full review of the resolution. The panel will then decide whether or not to bring the contempt charges before the House to vote. According to Mike McCaul, the committee chairman (R-TX), members of the committee will meet at 2 pm on September 19.
The committee marked up the document after subpoenaing Blinken in the last week, as it concluded its long-term report on the chaotic withdrawal which ended with a suicide attack outside Kabul International Airport. Thirteen U.S. military personnel were killed and several others were left behind when the Taliban took control of the nation.
McCaul stated that he would still force Blinken, who played a role in the withdrawal, to testify.
“This was a catastrophic failure of epic proportions,” McCaul told reporters on Monday. “This is a disgrace. I will hold him in contempt if that’s what it takes to bring him before the American people.”
McCaul claimed that the State Department had refused to allow Blinken’s testimony.
Officials from the Department of Defense shot back. They noted that Blinken had appeared in front of the House and Senate over a dozen different times to testify on his role during the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Matthew Miller, spokesman for the State Department said, “The Secretary has testified more than fourteen times before Congress about Afghanistan — more than any other cabinet-level official.” “It is disappointing that the Committee, instead of engaging with the Department in a good faith manner, has issued another unnecessary subpoena.”
However, McCaul said, “Blinken’s testimony is necessary to “inform the Committee’s consideration of possible legislation aimed at preventing the catastrophic errors of the withdrawal including potential reforms of the Department’s legislative authorization.”
McCaul’s subpoena stated, “You were the final decision-maker for the Department on the withdrawal and the evacuation.”
The House has not yet voted on the contempt resolution if it is advanced by the House committee. The focus of lawmakers is currently on finalizing an interim spending agreement to avoid the government shutdown scheduled to begin on October 1.
The lawmakers will then adjourn their session until the November elections.
