Although congressional Republicans have called for oversight and consequences for President Joe Biden administration’s incomplete and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, ultimate authority for punishing the White House …
Although congressional Republicans have called for oversight and consequences for President Joe Biden administration’s incomplete and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, ultimate authority for punishing the White House lies with the voters themselves. More than a dozen Republicans have called on Biden to resign over the botched withdrawal, and a few more have called for his impeachment. Those calls, which have included the questioning of his mental state and fitness for office, will almost certainly fall on deaf ears. An attempt to impeach Secretary of State Antony Blinken appears similarly ill-fated. Congress does have options for investigating the responses of the executive branch and the intelligence community to the fall of Afghanistan, however. Armed with subpoena power, committees can compel the testimony of executive branch officials and access documents. Blinken testified to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, and will appear in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie are also scheduled to testify to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept.28. “I remain deeply concerned about the events that accompanied our withdrawal and the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed said in a statement announcing the hearings. “It is the duty of Congress—and the Senate Armed Services Committee in particular—to hold hearings to learn lessons from the situation in Afghanistan and ensure accountability at the highest levels.
