House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday said that there was an "opportunity cost" associated

 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't mince words Wednesday about her view of two House members' clandestine trip to Afghanistan this week.

"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.

Kirby added that they needed military protection while they were there, but that he didn't know if they were taking seats that would've otherwise gone to evacuees when they left Kabul.

Pelosi and other congressional leaders said that the trip was dangerous and a strain on the military on the ground as it frantically scrambles to evacuate American citizens and Afghans from Kabul ahead of an August 31 deadline for the US to complete its withdrawal.