Rep. Waltz goes off on Secretary of State Blinken: How does he 'collect a paycheck with a straight face'?
Watchdog says US taxpayer dollars may be funding Taliban in bombshell testimony
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During bombshell testimony at a House hearing on Afghanistan Wednesday, John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), said the State Department is failing to comply with his office's oversight on U.S. taxpayer dollars being sent to Afghanistan. On "America's Newsroom" Thursday, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., joined a host of critics blasting the Biden administration for the lack of oversight and called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to resign.
REP. MIKE WALTZ: I think at this point we have to go after the State Department's budget. I'm talking to appropriators about it. We have to zero this funding out until we can certify it's going to the right people. And even then, I don't know if that's even possible. And oh, by the way, the other thing he testified, the inspector general yesterday, at the current rate, it'll take 31 years to get out the people that we left behind. And that makes me want to take this podium and throw it through a window. It's wrong. It's infuriating. And I don't know how Blinken can collect a paycheck with a straight face every day and why he hasn't resigned for leaving these people behind and leaving Americans behind.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Taliban celebrate their first anniversary of retaking Afghanistan after the U.S. troops withdrew. (Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)
The special inspector general charged with oversight of U.S. taxpayer aid to Afghanistan on Wednesday slammed the Biden administration for an "unprecedented" lack of cooperation with his watchdog office.
Sopko called on lawmakers to end "obfuscation and delay" by the State Department in turning over information that would allow him to conduct full oversight over the more than $8 billion in U.S. funding made available to the Afghan people since President Biden withdrew military forces from the country in 2021.
In testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Sopko warned that the Taliban is likely pilfering funds meant to assist the people of Afghanistan. That money includes $2 billion, about 60% of which is food aid, as well as funds for health care, agriculture, civil society and human rights.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.