WASHINGTON — A congressional hearing Tuesday took an unexpected turn when the committee’s Republican chairman cursed at a fellow GOP member under his breath.
The exchange, caught on mic, came during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, with lawmakers posing questions to former military officials who were involved with the operation.
At one point, when Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, indicated to Rep. Darrell Issa that his time for questions had concluded, Issa kept talking.
“I thought it was a closing act, chairman,” said Issa, R-Calif., prompting an unexpected response from McCaul.
“Go f— yourself,” he muttered.
McCaul apologized in a statement, saying, “It was a long day, and I lost my temper.”
“That is uncharacteristic of me and I apologize to Mr. Issa, who I consider a friend,” he added.
Issa made a lighthearted reference to the exchange on social media.
“Hey @RepMcCaul — I’ve been called worse … and by people I don’t like!” he posted on X.
Tuesday’s hearing featured testimony about the Abbey Gate attack in Afghanistan, which killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghan civilians in 2021. The public hearing lasted about four hours.
At the end of the hearing, McCaul said to the committee room, “I apologize if I was a little impatient. It’s been a long day.”
It’s not the first time a politician has been caught on a hot mic lobbing expletives in the Capitol. In 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney told Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to go “f— yourself” on the Senate floor.
Rebecca Kaplan contributed.