Biden Declines Extension of Evacuation Deadline in Afghanistan, Two Congressmen Visit Country Unannounced

Following yesterday’s meeting with G7 officials, President Biden decided not to extend the August 31st evacuation deadline from Afghanistan. According to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, several hundred U.S. troops have already left the country saying “these troops represent a mix of headquarters staff, maintenance and other enabling functions that were scheduled to leave and whose mission at the airport was complete.” The pace of evacuations in Kabul has picked up in recent days with about 70,000 people being evacuated in the past 10 days.

Two congressmen made an unannounced visit to the country. Representatives Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Peter Meijer of Michigan announced in a joint statement yesterday that they had traveled to Kabul to “conduct oversight on the mission to evacuate Americans and our allies” and that the trip had been conducted in secret to “minimize the risk and disruption to the people on the ground.” Moulton and Meijer are both military veterans who served in the Middle East and said “as members of Congress, we have a duty to provide oversight on the executive branch.”