A government watchdog said Wednesday that taxpayer dollars dedicated to Afghanistan may be wasted because the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development are not cooperating with oversight efforts offering the latest warning about the Biden administrations controversial Afghan policy.

Aides to President Joe Biden at those government departments are stymying audits and not assisting with requests for information, the congressionally appointed special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko argued in his 2023 High-Risk List report to Capitol Hill and to the secretaries of state and defense.

If this lack of cooperation continues, it will certainly create a greater risk of waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars, the SIGAR document states.

The agency released the report as Sopko appeared at a House Oversight Committee hearing. I have a job to do and Im not able to do that job because of State and [USAID], Sopko told lawmakers. In written testimony submitted for the hearing, Sopko argued: Due to the refusal of State and USAID to fully cooperate with SIGAR, I cannot report to this committee or the American people on the extent to which our government may be funding the Taliban and other nefarious groups with U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Legislators from both parties including Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the panel pledged to push the Biden administration to fully cooperate with SIGAR. They highlighted that other inspectors general from the State Department, Pentagon and USAID who testified at Wednesdays hearing said they were not experiencing similar problems in obtaining relevant information.

Asked about SIGARs assessment at a press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: The administration has consistently provided updates and information.

She cited documents, briefings and testimony that the Biden administration has already provided to Congress and inspectors general.

The back-and-forth came amid a series of hearings focused on the Biden administrations Afghanistan withdrawal operation in August 2021. Biden withdrew U.S. troops from the country that month in accordance with a deal that former President Donald Trump signed with the Taliban, the militant group that recaptured Afghanistan as America ended its 20-year mission there.

Lawmakers from both parties have challenged the presidents approach, noting that it involved the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghans, and it left behind thousands of Afghans and about 1,000 Americans who were eligible for evacuation. Since Republicans took over the House of Representatives this year, they have sought to pressure the Biden administration on the matter.

Biden responded this month by publishing a 12-page memo defending his policy and sending Congress classified post-operation reviews from various government agencies that were involved. People involved in the mission including current officials and volunteer groups, including veterans organizations, that tried to help desperate Afghans told HuffPost the memo exaggerated how prepared Bidens team was for the withdrawal and seemed like an effort to dodge accountability.

Since last year, the special inspector general has said the State Department and USAID are making it harder to independently and transparently analyze Bidens choices.