A pair of Republican lawmakers introduced an impeachment resolution against Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, accusing the top U.S. diplomat of high crimes and misdemeanors for his role in the chaos engulfing Afghanistan.
Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Andy Harris of Maryland both blamed Blinken’s diplomacy for contributing to the “preventable” events in Kabul, where at least 13 U.S. service members and 113 Afghan civilians were killed in a terrorist attack Thursday as U.S. forces continue to evacuate remaining Americans and Afghan allies.
The impeachment resolution accuses Blinken of presiding over “a reckless abandonment of our nation’s interests, security, and values” throughout the withdrawal process and blamed Blinken’s “failure to execute his duties” in overseeing the evacuation of diplomatic personnel as giving rise to the U.S. troop deaths Thursday.
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“Secretary Blinken’s actions, including ignoring critical intelligence received from the embassy in Kabul and United States intelligence agencies, have left American property, military equipment and weapons in the hands of enemies of the United States, left American citizens stranded in life threatening situations in dereliction of his duties as Secretary of State,” the resolution continued.
Norman called the events in Afghanistan “entirely preventable” in a statement.
“The actions undertaken by this administration, but more specifically Secretary Blinken, were irresponsible and have placed countless American lives in harm’s way, resulting in the deadliest attack on American soldiers in the last decade,” he said.
Harris denounced Blinken’s “complete and utter failure of managing this avoidable catastrophe,” calling him “unfit for leadership.”
The Biden administration’s handling of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has been widely criticized, with even Democrats condemning the policy. On Friday, Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine Corps veteran who recently visited Kabul, said the situation there is “a total f***ing disaster” and accused the Biden administration of having no real plan with respect to evacuations.
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A host of congressional Republicans have called for resignations or encouraged the pursuit of other means of removing top Biden administration officials, including the president himself, amid the fallout.
The impeachment of Blinken or any Biden officials is unlikely to succeed given that Democrats control the House.
