The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a subpoena to Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, demanding his appearance to explain the failure of the U.S.-Taliban talks in front of the panel. 

This subpoena follows Trump's abrupt announcement on canceling the secret meeting with the Taliban and Afghan president at Camp David on Sunday, and later declaring the talks "dead." Trump blames the Taliban for the failure of the deal, citing an attack in Kabul that killed at least 12, including a U.S. soldier. 

Trump's sudden withdrawal statement came as a surprise for the Taliban as well. "It was astonishing for us because we had already concluded the peace agreement with the American negotiating team," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Al Jazeera in Doha. 

Trump tweeted that he refused to fall for the "false leverage" built on launching attacks in Kabul by the insurgent group, which is not good enough an answer for the committee. 

Foreign affairs committee chairman Eliot Engel, a Democrat, said in a statement that the State Department had ignored requests from the panel for months to arrange briefings with Khalilzad.  

Engel said Khalilzad's refusal to appear before the committee appears to be part of a wider pattern of stonewalling of the Democrat-led committees in the House.

"More than 2,000 American troops have died in Afghanistan, and I'm fed up with this administration keeping Congress and the American people in the dark on the peace process and how we're going to bring this long war to a close," Engel said. 

James Risch, chairman of the Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee, contradicted the House panel's claim saying Khalilzad and other State Department officials have kept his committee well informed. 

"Most people on the committee have good access to Khalilzad and the other people that are involved in that," Risch told Al Jazeera. "They've done well both at the State Department and through the White House in keeping us up to date as to where they were." 

Khalilzad was appointed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the special representative for Afghanistan in September 2018. He has been the leading face of the past nine rounds of talks with Taliban leaders in order to reach a framework agreement for the U.S.-Taliban negotiation. Trump was supposed to be the deal closer, as he perceived his role in the negotiation, before he called off the deal.

Asked whether the collapse of talks put a U.S. troop pullout on hold as well, Pompeo said the issue would be discussed. "The President hasn't yet made a decision on that," he told American broadcaster ABC.  

The subpoena demands Khalilzad appear before the committee on the morning of September 19. 

The State Department did not immediately comment on the House panel's move.