Secretary of State Antony Blinken beat back criticism of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan on Monday at a contentious congressional hearing where at least two Republicans called on him to resign.

In five hours of often testy exchanges with lawmakers, Blinken defended President Joe Biden's decision to pull out and pushed back on accusations that the State Department should have done more to help evacuate Americans and at-risk Afghans, blaming the previous administration for lacking a plan.

He repeatedly noted that...