A classified briefing on Afghanistan with top officials from President Joe Biden’s administration generally left lawmakers with the feeling that evacuating all Americans and allies by the Aug. 31 deadline for troop withdrawal is improbable or impossible.
But one top Democrat said that he was assured that there are contingency plans in place in the event that troops end up staying past Aug. 31.
All House lawmakers were open to attend a classified briefing on Tuesday with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on the situation in Afghanistan.
As members met with the top officials, reports broke that Biden is sticking with the deadline.
SCHIFF SAYS AFGHANISTAN EVACUATIONS BY AUG. 31 DEADLINE ‘UNLIKELY’
“I’m less confident after leaving that briefing,” Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said at a press conference following the briefing. “There’s no one in the world outside of Joe Biden who thinks we’ll get everybody out by Aug. 31.”
“We have a moral obligation to ensure that we get American citizens out and our Afghan partners out — there are more of those folks in the country in Afghanistan right now that we have the capability to evacuate between now and the end of the month,” said Democratic Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, an Afghanistan veteran. “That’s why the mission must be extended, and we have to do what’s necessary to get people out, and it doesn’t have to do with a date on the calendar.”
Those feelings were along the lines of those of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, who said Monday night after a separate briefing that evacuating all persons of priority before Aug. 31 is “possible” but “highly unlikely.”
One top Democrat gave an indication, though, that there are contingency plans in place in case Biden’s stated plans change.
“I was very specific: ‘You need to have a plan to go past the 31st.’ And they assured me that they do,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “That’s not exactly breaking news. Of course, there’s a contingency to go past Aug. 31st. It would be malpractice if there wasn’t.”
Other lawmakers, though, declined to confirm that the officials said there was a contingency plan in place to stay after Aug. 31, citing the classified nature of the briefing.
Some members left the meeting with more questions. Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, a Republican and an Afghanistan veteran, said that the briefing confirmed there was no plan for how to recover U.S. military equipment from the hands of the Taliban. Republican Florida Rep. Michael Waltz, the first Green Beret elected to Congress, said that not one country surrounding Afghanistan has allowed the U.S. to counter terrorists by allowing bases, intelligence operations, or drones.
Crow added that from what he heard in the briefing: “I’m not seeing any evidence that there was an intelligence failure. What I’m seeing is a number of red flags and warnings that this was a possibility.”
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The meeting ended after 90 minutes, much to the frustration of McCarthy and other lawmakers who wanted more answers to their questions.
California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman said that he did not get to ask a question, but he wanted to know why the State Department did not track U.S. citizens entering and exiting war zones, leaving the administration unsure about the exact number of Americans who remain in Afghanistan. He said that he will propose legislation to remedy the problem.
