Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., expressed his disappointment that Defense Secretary Gen. Lloyd Austin did not accept the committee's invitation to testify at a hearing dealing with the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and threatened to take action if he continued not to cooperate.
The senator went on to say that Austin's decision not to come before the committee "will affect my personal judgment on Department of Defense nominees." Menendez then said that he expects Austin to appear before the committee at a future opportunity.
"And if he does not," Menendez warned, "I may consider the use of committee subpoena power to compel him and others over the course of these last 20 years to testify."
