Ten Democrats voted with Republicans to rebuke Biden administration officials over their handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Wednesday.
It passed 219 to 194, and among the Democrats who voted for the measure are Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine; Mary Peltola, D-Alaska; Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.; Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas; Greg Landsman, D-Ohio; and Jeff Jackson, D-N.C.
The bill was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who conducted a yearslong investigation into the chaotic military operation.
“Three years after the deadly and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden-Harris administration has yet to hold anyone accountable for one of the most devastating foreign policy blunders in American history,” McCaul told Fox News Digital.
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President Biden was one of 15 current and former officials rebuked by name in the legislation. (Photo Illustration)
He accused Biden officials of having “prioritized optics over security,” which McCaul said led to the deaths of the 13 U.S. servicemembers who were killed in a terror attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the withdrawal.
McCaul read their names on the House floor in closing remarks for debate on the bill.
“Nothing will bring their lives back,” he said.
The resolution specifically name-checks 15 current or former Biden administration members, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, former Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, among others.
Leading opposition to McCaul’s bill was Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The bill was led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (pictured with Secretary of State Antony Blinken) (Getty Images)
“This resolution, as I’ve said all along, is nothing more than political theater designed to score cheap points rather than address the real issues at hand,” Meeks said. “It’s a distortion of the facts and a disservice to the American people, a disservice to our servicemembers, a disservice to our diplomats – all of who put their lives on the line during our 20-year war efforts.”
“Them and their sacrifices should not be used as a political football. We should be working on real solutions, supporting our Afghan allies, ensuring that we learn the right lessons, and providing accountability that are based on truth, not partisan narratives.”
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McCaul responded, “I have tremendous respect [for Meeks]. We work together on many things, bipartisan. And when we don’t agree, we do so civilly. However, I cannot disagree with you more than I do today.”
“Who could ever forget the harrowing images of Afghans falling off the planes, and babies being flung over barbed wire in a desperate attempt by mothers to save their children and escape Afghanistan under Taliban rule?” he asked.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ked Democratic opposition to the bill (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
McCaul is also poised to lead the House in holding Blinken in contempt of Congress over accusations he is stonewalling his probe.
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His committee advanced that resolution on Tuesday, and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested to Fox News Digital that he will bring it up for a House-wide vote when lawmakers return from a six-week recess that starts Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized the move in a Tuesday statement, “Today’s action by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs was a naked political exercise masquerading as oversight, designed only to further the majority’s partisan interests under the guise of asking questions that have long ago been answered.”