The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), has issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding his testimony on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. McCaul has threatened to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress if he does not comply.
In a letter to Blinken, McCaul noted that he had requested the secretary's appearance at a September hearing back in May. The hearing is part of the GOP-led committee's investigation into what McCaul termed "the Biden-Harris administration's deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan."
"The Committee has provided extraordinary accommodation in its multiple requests and communications seeking to finalize a date in line with your schedule," McCaul wrote. "To date, the department has yet to provide any potential dates for your appearance." The State Department responded to the subpoena through spokesperson Matthew Miller, who expressed disappointment with the committee's decision to issue a subpoena, stating that Blinken is not available on the dates proposed by McCaul but has offered "reasonable" alternatives for a public hearing.
He said Blinken has appeared before McCaul's committee four times, including a hearing focused exclusively on Afghanistan. "The Secretary has testified before the Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times – more than any other Cabinet-level official," Miller said. He added that the department has provided the committee with nearly 20,000 pages of records, multiple high-level briefings, and facilitated transcribed interviews with nearly 15 current and former State Department officials.
The subpoena comes as Republicans, including Former President Donald Trump, have renewed their attacks on the Biden administration over the Afghanistan withdrawal. The criticism intensified during the recent anniversary of the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate in Kabul, which killed 13 US service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians in August 2021.
A 2023 Biden administration review of the withdrawal concluded that both the Trump and Biden administrations' efforts were inadequate. The now-retired US commander who oversaw the withdrawal has stated that he alone bears responsibility for the Kabul airport attack.
