Afghanistan IG: We Can’t Fully Account for $1.1 Billion Spent Since Kabul Fell; Feds Won’t Cooperate

The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has informed lawmakers that, “for the first time in its [14-year] history,” it is unable to provide Congress and taxpayers with “a full accounting” of government spending in the country – more than $1.1 billion since the Taliban takeover – because federal agencies won’t cooperate.

In its most recent quarterly report to Congress, the 57th since its establishment, the watchdog said both USAID and the Treasury Department “refused to cooperate with SIGAR in any capacity, while the State Department was selective in the information it provided.”

As Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee push for answers, the State Department says that SIGAR has been pressing for information on spending that falls outside its mandate.

“Our position is that, except for certain specific funds, SIGAR’s statutory mandate is limited to funds available for, quote, ‘the reconstruction of Afghanistan,’” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday.

“Since the Taliban takeover in August of last year, we have stopped providing as- READ MORE