Threatened with contempt of Congress charges for failing to comply with a subpoena to appear, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will testify before the House committee investigating the Biden administration's disastrous military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, outgoing chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced Blinken's expected appearance.
"After months of good faith efforts that were too often met with stonewalling from the State Department, I'm proud to have secured Secretary Blinken's appearance before my committee," McCaul said in a statement. "I trust his testimony will provide some long-overdue accountability and transparency for the American people, our Afghan allies, and our Gold Star families."
The House Rules Committee last week postponed a markup on a contempt of Congress resolution against Blinken.
The postponement occurred amid ongoing negotiations between House Republicans and Blinken to have the nation's top diplomat testify during the lame-duck period about the administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.
At issue was Blinken's failure to comply with a subpoena to testify in September about the withdrawal.
"It's unfortunate the secretary agreed to appear only after my committee advanced contempt proceedings against him," McCaul said Tuesday. "While I wish he had not delayed this crucial appearance until the end of his tenure as head of the State Department, I look forward to hearing his testimony and asking poignant questions to help House Republicans and the next administration ensure nothing like this ever happens again."
McCaul subpoenaed Blinken on Sept. 3 regarding the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan when 13 U.S. service members died in a suicide bombing at the airport.
On Sept. 9, McCaul released a report on the committee's investigation into the Biden administration's Afghanistan withdrawal, and the chaos and instability that followed.
"Our investigation reveals the Biden-Harris administration had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies. At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security," McCaul said at the time.
"As a result of the Biden-Harris administration's failure to plan for all contingencies, the U.S. government conducted an emergency evacuation without the necessary personnel, supplies, and equipment. The administration's dereliction of duty placed U.S. servicemembers and U.S. State Department personnel in mortal danger, where the Taliban — our sworn enemy — became the first line of defense.
"As a direct result of the failure to plan for all contingencies, 13 U.S. servicemembers and 170 Afghans were murdered in a terrorist attack at Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021, and 45 U.S. servicemembers and countless Afghans were injured. This was preventable."