House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) announced a hearing focusing on the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The hearing, titled “The Biden Administration’s Disastrous Withdrawal from Afghanistan, Part I: Review by the Inspectors General,” is scheduled to be held on April 19. The committee’s website said that the hearing will examine the factors that led to the Afghan government’s quick collapse and the administration’s handling of the evacuation. The announcement came soon after an internal review by the White House tried to lay blame for the withdrawal on the Trump administration, drawing criticism from Republicans.
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A statement from Comer appeared to criticize the decision to withdraw from the country in general, mentioning the backsliding of women’s rights as a result of it.
“President Biden and his Administration’s decisions during the Afghanistan withdrawal led to the deaths of 13 servicemembers, left Americans completely stranded, allowed U.S. military equipment to fall into Taliban hands, jeopardized progress made by Afghan women, and destabilized the entire region,” Comer said.
“This Administration not only continues to provide excuses for the self-inflicted humanitarian and national security catastrophe, but senior officials are actively obstructing meaningful congressional oversight. The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing with SIGAR as well as Inspectors General for the Department of Defense, Department of State, and U.S. Agency for International Development to examine their work on the factors that led to the collapse of Afghanistan. I look forward to their testimony as we work to hold this Administration accountable and get Americans’ answers,” he concluded.
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Republicans have revisited criticism of Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal in light of the White House’s recent report, which they accuse of trying to memory-hole the evacuation. Some Biden officials have also appeared to downplay the negative aspects of the actual withdrawal.
“For all this talk of chaos, I didn’t see it from my perch,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last Thursday. “I just don’t buy the whole argument of chaos.”
