Anger at the Pentagon is coming from both sides of the aisle – By Mark Satter (Roll Call) / Sept 14 2021
Democrats are joining the call for Afghanistan oversight, complicating President Biden’s hopes of moving past the withdrawal
President Joe Biden wants to move past the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan. But bipartisan anger over the rushed evacuation burst into the open on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. In a worrisome sign for the president, Democrats joined the calls for continued investigation.
Much of the anger was aimed at the top leaders of the Defense Department, Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
Fireworks came first from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which took testimony from Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, but was rebuffed in its request for testimony from Austin.
Chairman Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, threatened to subpoena Austin, saying that “a full accounting of the U.S. response to this crisis is not complete without the Pentagon — especially when it comes to understanding the complete collapse of the U.S.-trained and -funded Afghan military.”
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