House GOP Will Move to Hold Blinken in Contempt of Congress

He was subpoenaed to testify at a hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal but didn’t appear due to U.N. engagements, though he said he’s willing to testify.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during the High-Level Meeting to Launch the Friends of Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty at UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 23, 2024. Bryan R. Smith/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will formally initiate contempt-of-Congress proceedings against Secretary of State Antony Blinken for failing to comply with its subpoena to appear for a Sept. 24 oversight hearing on the calamitous August 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.

Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) opened the hearing, titled “An Assessment of the State Department’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan by America’s Top Diplomat,” by reading the full hearing notice and paused to silently emphasize that the witness table was empty.