Afghanistan withdrawal hearing: Will Blinken show?

(NewsNation) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to miss a proceeding Tuesday astir the nation's withdrawal from Afghanistan, contempt threats to clasp him successful contempt of Congress.

Last week, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul subpoenaed Blinken to be the hearing, threatening contempt if helium didn’t. The gathering was primitively scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The committee made its livestream for the proceeding backstage astir an hr earlier it was acceptable to statesman and posted different stream titled, "Markup to Find Secretary of State Antony Blinken successful Contempt of Congress."

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told NewsNation Tuesday greeting helium doesn’t expect Blinken to attend.

“He’s going to beryllium a no-show,” Burchett said Tuesday connected “Morning successful America.” “I don’t deliberation helium wants to look us. He’s got nary excuse. This happening was a disaster.”

Why is Antony Blinken improbable to be House hearing?

The State Department lashed astatine House Republicans implicit the subpoena earlier this month, accusing them of repeatedly calling for hearings connected days they knew Blinken was unavailable.

McCaul said helium was trying to accommodate Blinken. He had archetypal acceptable a proceeding for Thursday portion Blinken was successful Egypt and France.

On Tuesday, Blinken is expected to be the yearly U.N. General Assembly gathering of satellite leaders successful New York and perceive to President Joe Biden’s speech astatine the clip of the hearing.

It wouldn’t person been the caput of state’s archetypal clip speaking publically astir the six-month withdrawal that began successful February 2020. Blinken has testified astir Afghanistan 14 times, including 4 times earlier McCaul’s committee.

Why did lawmakers program the Afghanistan withdrawal hearing?

House Republicans issued a study connected their investigation into the subject withdrawal earlier this month. They alleged — successful portion — that the Biden-Harris medication “was determined to retreat from Afghanistan, with oregon without the Doha Agreement,” besides known arsenic the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan.

The woody was brokered betwixt the Taliban and U.S. erstwhile erstwhile President Donald Trump was successful bureau and signed successful February 2020. It called for the drawdown of U.S. forces from the state and a afloat withdrawal by May 2021, a timeline Biden vowed to instrumentality to erstwhile helium took office.

The study besides said the Biden-Harris medication failed to hole for civilian evacuation operations and created an unsafe environment.

As a result, 13 U.S. work members were killed by a violent attack connected Aug. 26, 2021 — the deadliest time for the U.S. subject successful Afghanistan since 2012.

Previous investigations and analyses person pointed to a systemic nonaccomplishment spanning the past 4 statesmanlike administrations and concluded that Biden and Trump stock the heaviest blame.