State, USAID rebuff requests from watchdog reviewing Afghanistan withdrawal

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.

“Historically, State and USAID have honored SIGAR’s mission. But since the Biden Administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal—which is in desperate need of oversight–State and USAID have denied travel, delayed, obstructed, and even questioned SIGAR’s jurisdictional authority.”

SIGAR said it expects to comply with the request.

“We always comply with requests from committee chairmen and ranking members, and will do so in this case. We look forward to briefing the committee,” Philip LaVelle, a SIGAR spokesman, said in a statement to The Hill. 

In June, Sopko noted “repeated and continuing refusal to provide information and assistance requested by my office.”

Inspectors general are obligated to notify lawmakers of significant resistance to any oversight efforts.

“State and USAID’s sudden refusal to cooperate is particularly surprising. After more than a decade of cooperation with my office, the agencies have now refused to provide information and assistance needed for several audits and Congressionally mandated reviews,” Sopko wrote at the time.

The latest brush with the two agencies comes as SIGAR is preparing to issue a congressionally mandated quarterly report next week detailing, among other things, U.S. efforts in the country post-withdrawal.

USAID did not respond to questions for the report on its various humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan — touching on topics like democracy, gender rights and food assistance —   including how the agency meets Treasury Department requirements to ensure no money reaches the Taliban.

The State Department refused to answer questions about women’s rights programs, support and funding for Afghan refugees, and the delivery of humanitarian assistance. 

The State Department, responding for itself and USAID, stressed the amount of material it has provided to SIGAR.

“As a general matter, the department does not comment on correspondence with Congress,” a department spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.

“But some of these allegations are simply false,” the spokesperson continued. “The State Department has provided SIGAR written responses to dozens of questions, as well as thousands of pages of responsive documents, analyses, and spreadsheets describing dozens of programs that were part of the U.S. government’s reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the United States stopped providing assistance for the purpose of the reconstruction of Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in August 2021.”

But the October email from SIGAR suggests the two agencies have largely complained about “jurisdictional issues” in their dealings with the watchdog. 

“State and USAID’s consistent response to recent SIGAR [requests for information] state they are deferring their responses until jurisdictional issues are resolved – however despite the exchange of multiple letters between State/USAID and SIGAR, they have provided no indication of how or when they envision the ‘jurisdictional issues’ being resolved,” Lawrence wrote.