[The Hill] The agency conducting oversight of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has notified lawmakers that it is again facing obstruction into its watchdog efforts, writing that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has "ceased all cooperation" with its investigation.The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in June notified lawmakers across numerous congressional committees that it was facing roadblocks from various agencies as it reviews the chaotic August 2021 military withdrawal from the country.
But an Oct. 11 email obtained by The Hill indicated that USAID and the State Department had both "largely declined" to respond to requests for information following the inspector general’s June notice, a sign of continued resistance to SIGAR’s oversight efforts.
"Unfortunately, since June 22, the level of cooperation and assistance SIGAR has received from State and USAID has only decreased across SIGAR’s entire portfolio," Robert Lawrence, the watchdog’s director of congressional affairs, wrote to lawmakers.
"State continues to cooperate — in a small number of areas — on a very limited basis; USAID has ceased all cooperation."
SIGAR has a sprawling mission for an inspector general office, conducting oversight of numerous agencies that had a hand in the Afghan war, a role created well before the withdrawal. But in recent months, the agency has complained prior cooperation has vanished as agencies now raise "jurisdictional concerns."
Those objections are triggering further congressional action, including a request from House Oversight Committee Republicans for a briefing on "any obstacles put in place by the Biden Administration."
"On two separate occasions you have informed the committee that the Biden Administration is obstructing your work by failing to produce required information. This is unacceptable," ranking member James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) wrote in a letter to SIGAR Inspector General John Sopko.
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