House Oversight to Hold Hearing on Afghan Withdrawal

The Republican chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said Tuesday there will be a hearing on April 19 regarding the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 that ended America’s longest war.

U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the full committee hearing will examine the work completed by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction regarding the withdrawal, and the factors that led to the collapse of the Afghan government.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee, led by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, also has been looking into the matter as the GOP-led House is continuing to focus on the withdrawal that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and more than 100 Afghans in a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

The U.S. also reportedly left behind $7 billion worth of military equipment.

Plus, tensions with the Biden administration and congressional Republicans have increased since the White House blamed the withdrawal on former President Donald Trump.

Republican House members say the Biden administration has been slow to respond to provide crucial information to the Foreign Affairs committee. McCaul has subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken over a July, 2021, Dissent Channel cable by 23 staffers at the U.S. embassy in Kabul regarding their opposition to the way the withdrawal was being managed. Blinken has until April 19, the day of the Oversight Committee hearing, to comply with the subpoena.

“President Biden and his administration’s decisions during the Afghanistan withdrawal led to the deaths of 13 servicemembers, left Americans completely stranded, allowed U.S. military equipment to fall into Taliban hands, jeopardized progress made by Afghan women, and destabilized the entire region,” Comer said in a news release. “This administration not only continues to provide excuses for the self-inflicted humanitarian and national security catastrophe, but senior officials are actively obstructing meaningful congressional oversight.”

Among those expected to testify are Robert Storch, Inspector General for the Department of Defense; Diana Shaw, acting Inspector General for the State Department; Nicole Angarella, acting Deputy Inspector General for the U.S. Agency for International Development; and John Sopko, Inspector General for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.