State Department Mum on Why It Killed Pompeo’s Crisis Evacuation Unit

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, on Aug. 2, 2021. Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Officials at the U.S. State Department declined on Aug. 19 to say why Secretary of State Antony Blinken “paused” a special evacuation unit formed by his predecessor, even as the firestorm of reaction to the bungled Afghanistan withdrawal intensified.

In June, Blinken signed off on the department’s fiscal year 2022 budget justification request submitted to Congress that included a notation that, while $50.8 million was sought for the Crisis and Contingency Response (CCR) program, “the department has paused implementation pending a policy review.”