Tenney Presses Secretary Blinken on Disastrous and Deadly Afghanistan Withdrawal

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today grilled Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the Biden Administration’s deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan. The catastrophic retreat resulted in the tragic deaths of 13 U.S. service members and many more Afghan civilians. It also left stranded thousands of American citizens and paved the way for the terrorist Taliban’s total takeover of the country. 

During the hearing, Congresswoman Tenney pressed Secretary Blinken for a commitment to safely evacuate from Afghanistan a 2-year-old child, who is an American citizen, and their accompanying family members, who are lawful permanent residents. Tenney’s office has been in regular contact with the family to arrange for their evacuation. However, the State Department has so far not committed to facilitating the group’s travel back to the United States, despite the very real threats they face on the ground. 

Tenney also pressed Secretary Blinken for answers on the decision to sequence the withdrawal of U.S. forces prior to the evacuation of all American citizens and Afghan allies. 

The full clip of Tenney’s exchange is found here. 

Since Biden’s reckless retreat from Afghanistan last month, Tenney has been leading the charge in Congress for answers and accountability. On August 19, in addition to calling for a full congressional inquiry into the catastrophe, Tenney reiterated her call for President Biden to resign from office, noting that his mishandling of the crisis shattered all confidence in his ability to serve as our Commander in Chief. Tenney subsequently led 26 of her House colleagues in calling on Biden to release the full transcripts of his July 23 call with then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani after it was reported that Biden asked Ghani to deliberately misrepresent the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. On August 27, Tenney also called on Speaker Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings.

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