The House Rules Committee on Monday postponed a markup on the contempt of Congress resolution against Secretary of State Antony Blinken without announcing when it might get rescheduled, the Washington Examiner reported.
The postponement comes 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, according to the report.
At issue is Blinken's failure to comply with a subpoena to testify about the withdrawal in September.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, subpoenaed Blinken on Sept. 3 regarding the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan that led to, in part, the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in a suicide bombing at the airport.
Committee Republicans moved to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress on Sept. 24, recommending it advance to a full chamber vote.
For his part, Blinken said the dates set by the committee conflicted with official travel.
"As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the President's important foreign policy objectives," Blinken wrote then in a letter to McCaul.
Blinken has testified about Afghanistan 14 times, including four times before McCaul's committee.
However, the latest subpoena issued by McCaul came amid the conclusion of a three-year investigation into the withdrawal from Afghanistan, one that was highly critical of President Joe Biden and his administration over the exit.
"This was a catastrophic failure of epic proportions. This is a disgrace, and I will hold him in contempt if that's what it takes to bring him before the American people, because they deserve the answers," McCaul said in September.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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