Several Republicans in Congress are demanding repercussions for President Joe Biden and his administration over their handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, with Biden’s defenders – and some GOP Trump critics – placing the blame on former President Donald Trump’s doorstep.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, floated the long-shot idea of Biden’s cabinet invoking 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove him and called for a bipartisan congressional probe.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) took Trump’s call for Biden to resign a step further in a Fox interview, also calling for Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate President Pro Tempore Pat Leahy – which would elevate Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the presidency.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) tweeted that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley should “acknowledge their failure and resign,” though Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Austin has no plans to resign.
Democrats and some anti-Trump Republicans have focused on the fact that Trump struck the withdrawal deal that Biden is carrying out, with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) arguing in a Fox Radio interview Monday that deal “set this all in motion.”