For many high-profile Democrats, political expediency takes priority over all else – even members of America’s armed services. Indeed, Democratic lawmakers like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are intent on shielding President Joe Biden and his administration from scrutiny over his inept handling of the withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Pelosi prevented House Republicans from reading the names of the 13 service members who were killed during suicide bombings at Kabul’s airport. The attack, which was carried out by operatives with ISIS-K, also killed about 169 Afghans attempting to flee the country.

RedState’s Nick Arama reported that Republican lawmakers stated “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) prevented them from reading the names of the 13 service members who were killed at the Kabul airport in the terrorist attack last Thursday, after a moment of silence was held on the House floor.”

Florida Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez took to Twitter to criticize the speaker for refusing to honor the fallen warriors. He wrote:

How badly do Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats want to cover up this Afghanistan debacle?

They just blocked Members of Congress from reading the names of the service members who sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan last week.

Don’t you think our military deserves better?

How badly do Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats want to cover up this Afghanistan debacle?

They just blocked Members of Congress from reading the names of the service members who sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan last week.

Don’t you think our military deserves better?

— Congressman Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) August 31, 2021

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) told The Floridian that Pelosi did not allow GOP lawmakers to “read names or bring up bills or anything.”

A closer look reveals exactly why Pelosi silenced Republican lawmakers. It seems she feared the possibility that they would bring up a legislative proposal that would bring more attention to the president’s botched withdrawal effort. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) brought this up during an appearance on Fox News:

You know, Republicans were on the House floor yesterday asking for unanimous consent that we vote on a bill that would simply demand that the administration give us a plan for getting Americans out, getting our equipment out, and not recognize the Taliban. There was nothing partisan about that at all. But Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats refused to even allow a vote on it.

Crenshaw is correct – there is nothing partisan about asking for a plan to rescue Americans stranded in Afghanistan and not recognizing the Taliban. There is not a single American who wishes to see other Americans trapped in a country with an extremist authoritarian group that could hold them hostage or murder them. Yet, Pelosi and her merry band of Democrats would rather not acknowledge this issue because it is not politically beneficial.

Needless to say, this is a horrible look for the Democrats. Refusing to even entertain the idea that the Biden administration should be held to account for the lost soldiers and remaining Americans stuck in Afghanistan is not only reprehensible, but it also is not a sound political strategy. By trying to protect Biden, she is only making the situation worse for the president and Democrats in Congress.

Democrats are hoping America will forget about the debacle in Afghanistan. By not allowing fallen Marines to be honored, they seek to diminish the emotional response that would surely be invoked in the public. Slapping down a legislative attempt to push the administration to do right by Americans still trapped in a hostile nation is an attempt to draw attention away from Biden’s many blunders when it comes to the Afghanistan withdrawal.

But Pelosi is a savvy political player; in general, she knows what she’s doing. She has been defending Biden’s incompetence ever since conditions deteriorated on the ground in Afghanistan. She has to know this strategy will not work, but at this point, desperation seems to be compelling her to try any tactic she can come up with to lessen the damage this fiasco will cause for the Democrats.

Still, it seems pretty clear that these machinations are not working. When 2022 rolls around, Afghanistan will be one in a long line of issues that result in the nearly inevitable shellacking the Democrats will take. Moreover, Pelosi is only delaying the inevitable – if and when Republicans take back the House, they will almost certainly launch investigations into how the evacuation and withdrawal were handled. The bottom line is that no matter what the Democrats do, this issue isn’t going away anytime soon.