House Republicans Press to Hold Joe Biden Accountable for Deadly Afghan Withdrawal

US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, speaks alongside fellow
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Wendell Husebø

House Republicans are holding President Biden accountable for stranding up to 200 or more Americans while abandoning U.S. military equipment in Afghanistan.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held a press conference to announce that House Democrats blocked a vote to “require” Biden to recover the military gear and Americans.

“Democrats just blocked a vote to require a plan from President Biden to bring Americans home and to account for all the military equipment he left behind,” McCarthy tweeted. “Republicans will not stop until every American is home safely.”

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) stated in a press release Tuesday that he is working to hold the Biden administration accountable through first receiving a briefing on the deadly evacuation through the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

“Committee Republicans invited the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction to brief Congress today, and I appreciate his willingness to come forward and his commitment to testify before the full Committee in the coming weeks,” Comer wrote.

Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) tweeted she will “keep pressing” to hold the Biden administration accountable. “There’s more work to do,” she added.

“No one left behind means NO ONE left behind. We left hundreds of Americans and more of our allies to the mercy of the Taliban,” Kim tweeted. “It didn’t have to be this way. I will keep pressing the Biden administration on how we let this happen.”

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), who said Monday he has constituents still stranded in Afghanistan, reiterated Tuesday his team is still endeavoring to save the trapped citizens.

“The State Department should be ASHAMED! My team is STILL working around the clock to try and help constituents get out of Afghanistan because the State Department had no problem leaving them behind,” Jackson said. “They’re useless!”

Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Michael Waltz (R-FL), and Claudia L. Tenney (R-NY) introduced legislation to provide internet services to Afghanistan in light of the Taliban’s history of anti-modern policies.

“Thank you to @michaelgwaltz, @RepTenney, & all of my colleagues who have joined me in introducing the American Freedom & Internet Access Act and launching Operation Starfall!” Salazar tweeted.

The Washington Free Beacon reported Monday Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is also demanding Biden turn over White House documents about why American citizens were blocked from entering the extraction point at the Kabul airport.

Johnson “is using his oversight authority to investigate allegations that U.S. military leaders prevented U.S. citizens and others from entering the Kabul airport as part of emergency evacuation efforts coordinated by nonprofit groups,” the publication wrote.

Congressional Republicans will likely demand all types of answers from the administration, which may include if the United States paid the Taliban for Americans security in Afghanistan.

On August 25, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked if the administration had paid any cash to the Taliban to help secure evacuation coordination.

“But I’m wondering: has the U.S. offered the Taliban anything in terms of cash or supplies to help facilitate this coordination?” the reporter asked.

“No. This is not a, quote, ‘quid pro quo,'” she claimed.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø 

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