House Foreign Affairs sets first hearing to review Afghanistan withdrawal

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will convene its first hearing in its review of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on March 8 and is set to invite the leaders of two groups that organized charter flights that evacuated thousands of people from the country in August 2021.

The March 8 hearing will feature testimony from the leaders of Allied Airlift 21 and Task Force Pineapple.

The hearing is the panel’s first on Afghanistan since the GOP took control of Congress, building on work under now-Chairman Michael McCaul that included a report criticizing President Joe Biden for the chaotic exit from the country.

The deal to exit the country was first brokered under former President Trump.

The committee has made clear it hopes to use its newfound power to secure more cooperation from the Biden administration to evaluate the exit, The Hill reported.

“The Biden administration’s, and specifically the State Department’s, refusal to provide Congress with the necessary information regarding America’s unconditional withdrawal from Afghanistan has hampered the Minority Committee’s ability to complete a thorough investigation,” according to the report, which was released at the anniversary of the withdrawal last August.

Other agencies have similarly complained about resistance to their oversight efforts from the Biden administration.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has notified lawmakers on two occasions that it has faced trouble securing information from both the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development.