On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) stated that in the wake of testimony from Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction John Sopko that he cannot guarantee American taxpayer money isn’t going to the Taliban, Congress needs to look at the State Department’s budget and zero out funding for Afghanistan until there is greater certification of where the money is going.
Waltz said, “I think, at this point, we have to go after the State Department’s budget. I’m talking to appropriators about it. We have to zero this funding out until we can certify it’s going to the right people, and even then, I don’t know if that’s even possible.”
Waltz also accused the State Department of stonewalling on Afghanistan, saying that “all we’re asking for is a dissent cable and a few other documents. Diplomats in Kabul, in July of 2021, said the government is falling, this thing is coming unraveled. Yet the State Department won’t let us see it. … So, we need transparency. And my question is, what do they have to hide? The president and everyone else in his administration has said this was an outstanding success.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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