US Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to blast US President Joe Biden and the nation's top foreign policy officials for a botched US-led pullout and evacuation of both troops and civilians from Afghanistan.
"As American planes finally departed, hundreds of American civilians left behind to the enemy," he said, before repeating himself.
Hawley pushed back against a Biden assertion that the recent US-led evacuation mission from Kabul, Afghanistan, was an "extraordinary success," as the US president termed it in his August 31 address to the nation.
The Missouri Republican argued the abandonment of American civilians and the recent death of 13 US service members in Kabul was not indicative of a successful mission.
"Make no mistake, this president is a disgrace," Hawley proclaimed. "His behavior is disgraceful. He has dishonored this country with his shameful leadership in this crisis."
"And it is time for him to resign," the senator added.
Hawley focused on Biden's cabinet, vowing to work against fast-tracking any Pentagon or State Department nominee until he saw the resignation of three top foreign policy officials: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
"I will not consent to the nomination of any nominee for the Department of Defense, or for the Department of State, until Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken and Jake Sullivan resign," he said. "Leaders take responsibility for their failures ... There must be accountability."
Hawley is not the only US lawmaker to take issue with the US president's handling of the Afghan evacuations.
Robert Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Blinken on Tuesday that the operation from Kabul was "clearly and fatally flawed," according to Bloomberg. Menendez also claimed that "Congress has been misled" because assessments on the situation in Afghanistan "were definitely overly rosy to say the best."
"And if we’re not to repeat the past we need to learn from it," the New Jersey Democrat said.
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on September 3 falsely claimed that all US civilians who "have wanted to come out have come out," it has since been revealed that an estimated 100 Americans reportedly wishing to leave Afghanistan remain in the country.