Afghanistan withdrawal: McCaul says Biden will have 'blood on his hands'

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Rep. McCaul: Biden ‘will have blood on his hands' by not extending Afghanistan deadline

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, warns people are going to be left behind and die if more time is not allotted for the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan.

House Republicans on Tuesday blasted President Biden's decision to stick to the Aug. 31 withdrawal date from Afghanistan and predicted bloodshed during the ongoing rushed evacuation from Kabul. 

Following a closed-door briefing on Afghanistan at the Capitol, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and fellow Republicans emerged Tuesday afternoon blasting the Biden adminstration's position of withdrawing by the end of the month despite the Taliban takeover of the country and Americans and Afghan allies still seeking to leave. 

"I can tell you there's no way we can humanly get all of our American citizens and Afghan partners out of the country by that time," Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, said Tuesday at a news conference with McCarthy and GOP members of Congress who are veterans. 

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"It will be a stain on this presidency … he will have blood on his hands," McCaul continued. "People are going to die. And they're gonna be left behind."

Indiana GOP Rep. Jim Banks, who served in Afghanistan, also raised alarms that sophisticated American military equipment has now fallen into Taliban hands and can cause harm to Americans. 

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"[If] any of this military equipment or weapons are used to harm or kill an American, the blood is directly on Joe Biden's hands," Banks said. 

A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Tuesday that Biden has decided to not extend an Aug. 31 deadline to remove all American troops from Afghanistan. The development comes shortly after a Taliban spokesperson – following a meeting between leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and CIA Director William Burns in Kabul – said there will be "no extensions" to the Biden administration’s Aug. 31 date.  

At the Capitol Tuesday, all House members were invited to a private briefing with Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to discuss Afghanistan. 

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Democrats also sided with Republicans that more time is needed and urged Biden to reconsider the Aug. 31 withdrawal.  

Reps. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Jason Crow, D-Colo., Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., said Tuesday afternoon at a Democratic leadership news conference that the withdrawal date should be contingent on the completed evacuation.

"The deadline is when the mission is accomplished and we bring our people home, full stop," Crow said. 

Fox News' Chad Pergram, Lucas Tomlinson and Greg Norman contributed to this report.