House hearing on Afghan chaos to start early next week, Pelosi says
District of Columbia | August 19, 2021
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s hearing on the disaster in Afghanistan will begin early next week with testimony from “the highest level” administration officials, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “That is Congress’s role, the role of oversight, and that will take place early next week — at least it will begin then,” the California Democrat told KPIX in San Francisco late Tuesday. Committee Chairman Gregory W. Meeks, New York Democrat, has asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to testify about the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal “as soon as possible.” Senate Democrats also plan to hold hearings on the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, and the hasty evacuation of Americans and allies from the airport. The collapse is the biggest foreign policy crisis in President Biden’s seven-month tenure. It has seriously undermined his claim, long challenged by his critics, to be a foreign policy expert… (Excerpts from the Washington Times)