Republican senators press Biden administration for overdue report on vetting Afghan evacuees

Six Republican senators sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking for an overdue report on "the composition and vetting of the more than 78,000 Afghan evacuees."

By law, Congress needed to receive the report by Nov. 30, 2021. The senators wrote that the report is needed to "include the immigration status of Afghan evacuees located here in the United States and at overseas bases of U.S. Armed Forces, including any evacuees 'flagged as potential security risks or concerns.'" 

The letter was signed by top Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (W.V.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Jim Risch (Idaho) and Jim Inhofe (Okla.).

The senators stated that the information from Mayorkas is needed so Congress can fulfill executive oversight duties, and the fact the report is late is "unacceptable."

Three Republican senators made a similar request last week. Sens. Ron Johnson (Wis.), Rick Scott (Fla.), and Josh Hawley (Mo.) asked Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to report on the vetting of Afghan refugees brought to the U.S. after the fall of Afghanistan.

Blinken acknowledged to the Senate that most of the Afghan evacuees were not fully vetted before being airlifted out of Kabul by U.S. forces.