"We don't want anyone to think this was a good idea. There's a real concern about members being in the region," Pelosi said of the unauthorized trip that Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Republican Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan had taken to Afghanistan, catching both House leadership and the White House by surprise.

Moulton and Meijer announced Tuesday night that they had secretly flown to Afghanistan to see the situation for themselves. The two Iraq War veterans said in a joint statement they made the trip "to conduct oversight on the mission to evacuate Americans and our allies," adding that the trip had been conducted in secret "to minimize the risk and disruption to the people on the ground."

The Pentagon said that they were "unaware" of the decision by Moulton and Meijer to visit Afghanistan and that their visit "took time away" from the missions US military forces were planning to conduct on the day of the visit.

"We are obviously not encouraging VIP visits to a very tense, dangerous, and dynamic situation at that airport and inside Kabul generally," said Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, adding that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "would have appreciated the opportunity" to speak with them before the visit.