The newspaper pointed out that the agreement was reached after a session that lasted more than 14 hours, with the panel voting 57-2 to further its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) just after 2:30 am on Thursday.

While the end result was a bipartisan vote, the approval came after a reviewing marathon that included debates on everything running the gamut from Afghanistan’s withdrawal to the critical race theory and the overall size of the defense budget, the publication noted.

The review also came just days after the US military completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war, an end marked by chaos and death as civilians tried to flee Taliban rule and terrorists killed dozens of Afghans and 13 US soldiers.

Lawmakers from both parties, including some Democrats who support the idea behind the pullout, criticized the Biden administration’s execution of the pullout, particularly the lack of planning to evacuate vulnerable Americans and Afghans before Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban.

The Republicans seized on the issue Wednesday and Thursday morning to force Democrats to vote to rebuke Biden for the pullout.

Several other amendments on Afghanistan garnered bipartisan support, including demanding reports on military equipment abandoned in Afghanistan, the security situation in the country, threats from Al-Qaeda on the counterterrorism plans ‘on the horizon,’ among others.

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