Watch Live: Blinken to Face Senators' Questions on Afghanistan

Politics|Blinken faces questions connected Afghanistan from senators, a time aft a House sheet grilling.

• Sept. 14, 2021Updated 1:50 p.m. ET

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken appeared again connected Tuesday earlier lawmakers, defending the Biden administration’s determination to retreat from Afghanistan and insisting that the State Department did its champion to program for the chaotic evacuation arsenic American troops prepared to depart past month.

After much than 5 hours of virtual grounds to the House Foreign Affairs Committee connected Monday, Mr. Blinken appeared successful idiosyncratic earlier the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, making nary caller concessions of responsibility adjacent arsenic Republicans denounced President Biden’s unit withdrawal from the state arsenic “disastrous,” successful the words of Senator Rob Portman of Ohio.

As helium did connected Monday, Mr. Blinken argued that the State Department had added much unit earlier this twelvemonth to rapidly expedite processing of Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans who had worked with U.S. forces successful Afghanistan, and noted that the Trump medication had halted the processing of specified visas for months.

But committee members focused connected whether the Biden medication should person done much contingency readying to hole for the anticipation of the abrupt autumn of the Afghan government, which occurred past month, and if the medication should person delayed the exit of U.S. troops until much Americans and at-risk Afghans could beryllium relocated from the country.

Mr. Blinken said that the administration’s worst-case readying began “in the outpouring and summer” with interagency meetings coordinated by the White House.

Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, challenged Mr. Blinken’s predominant refrain that the Biden medication was obliged to retreat rapidly due to the fact that of an statement the Trump medication struck successful 2020 with the Taliban, mounting a May 1 exit day from the country. Mr. Biden ordered each troops to permission by Aug. 31 — aft initially announcing a withdrawal by Sept. 11, the 20th day of the panic attacks — and has said that staying longer would person invited attacks by the Taliban, which agreed nether the woody with Mr. Trump not to onslaught withdrawing American forces.

Mr. Romney asked Mr. Blinken why, if the Biden medication was consenting to interruption the May 1 exit deadline, it could not person stayed longer than Aug. 31 to guarantee a much orderly evacuation.

“The day was May 1, and you pushed it to Aug. 31. Why didn’t you propulsion it overmuch later?” Mr. Romney asked.

Mr. Blinken said that the subject had told Mr. Biden that it needed 3 to 4 months to retreat from the state “in a harmless and orderly way,” and helium added that the Biden medication had incurred immoderate hazard of Taliban attacks by staying arsenic agelong arsenic it did.

“We took immoderate hazard successful presumption of what the Taliban would bash oregon not bash aft May 1,” helium said.

Mr. Blinken besides told Mr. Romney that helium was unfastened to a caller legislature authorization for the usage of subject unit to govern actions to combat a imaginable resurgence of planetary violent enactment successful Afghanistan.

Asked by Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, astir longstanding ties betwixt the Taliban and Al Qaeda, which U.S. officials said Tuesday could rebuild successful Afghanistan wrong 1 to 2 years, Mr. Blinken conceded that “the narration has not been severed, and it’s a precise unfastened question arsenic to whether their views and the narration has changed successful immoderate benignant of definitive way.”

House Republicans hammered Mr. Blinken connected Monday, calling for his resignation and accusing the Biden medication of incompetence and obfuscation. Mr. Blinken conceded small fault, saying the Trump medication had dealt the Biden squad an intolerable manus by striking the woody successful 2020. “We inherited a deadline. We did not inherit a plan,” Mr. Blinken said.