According to reporting by The Hill, the most senior Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has accused top officials in the Biden administration of stonewalling oversight efforts in the U.S. assistance of Afghanistan.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) sent the letter, dated December 1, to the U.S. Treasury Department, State Department, and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
In the letter, McCaul criticizes the agencies for their refusal to comply with the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) “since August 16, 2021,” describing the actions as “unlawful and unacceptable.”
McCaul is likely to be the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s next chair when the GOP assumes the House majority in January.
Thursday’s letter serves as a foreshadowing of what a GOP-led House will focus on when investigating the Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In the letter, McCaul also warned the agencies that they should “return to full compliance with SIGAR’s oversight” before it became necessary for Congressional intervention.
McCaul’s letter also cited a report SIGAR published in October to back up claims that the three agencies hadn’t cooperated with SIGAR “in any capacity.”
The Texas lawmaker also gave a two-week deadline for the agencies to provide materials related to their refusal to comply with SIGAR’s requests when the U.S.-backed military in Afghanistan fled Kabul.
The letter was sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
The Biden administration has received criticism from Republicans and Democrats, but very little Congressional oversight was conducted into the two-week chaotic withdrawal in August 2021.
