Secretary of State Antony Blinken could face a contempt of Congress charge from House Republicans as soon as May 24 after refusing to turn over a key document warning U.S. officials about a deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan before withdrawing in August 2021.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) told the Daily Mail that members of Congress gave Blinken and state department officials “ample time” to hand over the classified dissent report, which urged allies to evacuate immediately before the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.

Republican lawmakers said they would immediately pursue legal proceedings if Blinken missed the fourth deadline given to the official on Thursday to comply with the subpoena.

“We’ve given them ample time,” McCaul said. “Three extensions of time we tried to work this out, but unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that that’s going to work, and the next step will be to move to contempt proceedings.”

McCaul wrote in a statement earlier this week that the department is now in violation of its legal obligation to produce such documents. State Department officials argue the committee received the classified briefings with a written summary on the dissent, but McCaul said the “misleading” information turned over has been “insufficient.”

“Should the Department fail to comply with its legal obligation, the Committee is prepared to take the necessary steps to enforce its subpoena, including holding you in contempt of Congress and/or initiating a civil enforcement proceeding,” McCaul said, according to Fox News.

McCaul said the committee plans to meet on May 24 to hold Blinken in contempt and move the charge to the House of Representatives for a full vote — the first time in U.S. history that lawmakers would take action against a sitting Secretary of State.

President Joe Biden withdrew from Afghanistan on August 2021, ending two decades of U.S. military presence. The last troop plane departed after a weeks-long chaotic evacuation, which led to a terrorist attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 civilians, and leaving up to a maximum of $24 billion worth of weapons and equipment in the hands of the Taliban.

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“American people and the veterans and the Gold Star families are right to know what the thinking was in the embassy at the time to take the extraordinary measure to dissent from the policy,” McCaul said. “We also want to see Secretary Blinken’s response to the dissenting cable to see what the state of mind was a month before the debacle and the collapse of Afghanistan, which culminated in the killing of 13 service men and women.”

The Daily Mail reported that if lawmakers hold Blinken in contempt of Congress, Biden’s Department of Justice would have to comply with legal proceedings, but would likely forego taking action against the administration official.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) excoriated Democrats while visiting the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday ahead of the massive influx of illegal aliens set to flood into the U.S. as Title 42 expires.

“We are witnessing an absolute travesty unfolding on our southern border,” Cruz told reporters Thursday evening. “On Monday, we apprehended over 10,000 people on the border, the highest level in history. On Tuesday, we apprehended over 10,000 people on the border, again, the highest level in history. There are, right now where we’re standing, more than 22,000 people camped just south of the border, getting ready to come across just in this location. In less than a month, we’ve had over 35,000 Venezuelans cross illegally, just right here.”

Cruz said that those numbers were just in the area he was visiting and do not represent the other areas along the 2,000 mile border that are being flooded by illegal aliens who are smuggled in by the Mexican drug cartels.

“And I have to say I am angry because this is deliberate!” Cruz exclaimed. “This is a decision that was made by President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Congressional Democrats to open up the border to what is nothing less than an invasion. Ask yourself, ‘Why is President Biden not here? Why is Kamala Harris not here? Why is Elizabeth Warren not here? Why is AOC? She still owns the white pantsuit. Why is she not here with her head buried in her hands?’ Because they don’t give a damn about the dead bodies.”

Cruz noted that he grilled DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at the end of March about how many illegal aliens had died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, which Mayorkas claimed he did not know. Cruz also pressed Mayorkas about the number of women and children who had been sexually assaulted — which he also could not answer.

“We’re witnessing modern day slavery,” Cruz said. “And maddeningly … the Biden administration has decided as they want more. Title 42 is expiring today. And you know what happens tomorrow, those numbers go up. This is an invasion and they want the numbers to go up. Let me say to the men and women from the Border Patrol who are heroes. They are extraordinary heroes. And we’re down here to tell them thank you, to tell them we love you, to tell them we got your back even as your political superiors are making it impossible for you to do your job.”

“The Biden administration is really proud now that they have apps on their phone, that when someone crosses illegally, they can fill out an application in two minutes. This is the Amazon version of illegal immigration!” Cruz added. “They’re gonna make it fast and deliver them anywhere in the country. We’ve seen six and a half million people cross illegally since Joe Biden became president and the administration wants six and a half million to be 10 million, to be 12 million, to be 15 million, to be 20 million. And the body bags that pile up, they can’t be bothered to worry about. I’ll tell you, the great state of Texas is on the front lines, the volume is overwhelming! It’s gotta stop!”

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We’re witnessing an absolute travesty unfolding on our southern border.

It’s nothing less than an invasion! #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/flX1EwmJIr

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 12, 2023