Rick Scott renews calls for congressional probe into Joe Biden’s ‘Afghanistan failures’

Rick Scott. Image via AP.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott again expressed frustration with President Joe Biden’s “Afghanistan failures,” making what seem to be unheeded calls for a congressional investigation into the final days of the 20-year conflict. 

In a statement Monday from his Senate office, the junior Senator from Florida lambasted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for doing “absolutely nothing.”

“It has been two weeks since the world watched the Taliban take control of Afghanistan because of Joe Biden’s botched and poorly planned attempt to withdraw U.S. troops and evacuate Americans and our allies. This chaos created by Biden’s misguided and dangerous actions and decisions has led to the loss of 13 American service members and the endangerment of thousands of civilians, including Americans, in Kabul,” Scott said. “It’s now clear that Biden knew of the imminent threat that led to this preventable and horrific loss. His abject failure, carelessness and incompetence has empowered terrorists and made our world a far more dangerous place.”

“For two weeks I have called on Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi to launch a bipartisan and bicameral investigation into the Biden administration’s failed withdrawal of American forces. They’ve done absolutely nothing. Putting politics above reason and their duty to the American people, Schumer and Pelosi have stayed inexplicably silent and taken ZERO action to launch a much needed bipartisan and bicameral investigation,” Scott added.

“It’s clear that the intelligence community had several indications that this troop withdrawal would fail, but Biden and his administration chose to proceed and knowingly put lives at risk. That’s unacceptable. Schumer and Pelosi need to hold Joe Biden accountable for his egregious mistakes for the sake of the American people. It’s time to get them the answers and accountability they deserve.” 

Scott has repeatedly called for an investigation, and he was also an early adopter of the position that Biden should be removed from office under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Scott has been shopping the unlikely scenario for the better part of two weeks and continues to double down on the notion that Biden is “unfit” for office, his actions “misguided and dangerous,” and that Vice President Kamala Harris and the Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment.

“On August 16, as the world watched the Taliban rapidly take Afghanistan due directly to Joe Biden’s failed withdrawal of U.S. forces, I urged the nation to confront a serious question: Is Joe Biden capable of discharging the duties of his office or has time come to exercise the provisions of the 25th Amendment,” Scott asserted Friday.

“Now, 11 days later and following the tragic loss of 13 American service members in a heartbreaking, predictable and preventable terrorist attack, I am again urging Vice President Harris and the cabinet to put politics aside, act in the best interests of the American people and consider invoking the 25th Amendment,” Scott added. 

Expect these calls for reprisals for Biden to continue from Scott, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2022 cycle. Expect also that their main impact will be political, rather than in the realm of policy possibility.