Menendez threatened to subpoena Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to appear before the committee if he does not agree to testify 'in the near future.'
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said Tuesday that the Biden administration’s execution of the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was “clearly and fatally flawed” and demanded “a full explanation of this administration’s decisions on Afghanistan since coming into office last January.”
, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement that Austin "regrets that conflicting commitments made that appearance impracticable.” The defense secretary is scheduled to testify about the Afghanistan withdrawal before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 28.When Blinken appeared in person before the Senate panel Tuesday, his opening statement wasto the one he delivered via videoconference to members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee one day earlier.
“You said you would have mechanisms for continued evacuations after 31 August,” charged Sen. Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho. “Where is your plan?” “To demand the Taliban abide by its commitments now and expect a different result I think is somewhat absurd,” Menendez said in his opening remarks. While he conceded that “the Taliban rules Afghanistan, so we will have to deal with it in some form,” Menendez said, “let’s not kid ourselves. There is no such thing as a reformed Taliban.”
Among those who sought more information on the status of Americans and Afghan allies still trying to escape Afghanistan was Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who said he wanted to focus his questions on “the moral stain of leaving people behind.”
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