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A Senate aide claims that when a Republican senator dropped a hold on his nomination, the Army general who led the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was elevated to a four-star rank.
By unanimous consent—that is, without any senators objecting—the Senate on Monday approved Lt. Gen. Chris Donahue as commander of the US Army Europe-Africa. The Senate Armed Services Committee had already advanced 984 other military promotions, but Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin had blocked the promotion.
The reason Mullin released his hold was not immediately apparent, and CNN is contacting Mullin’s office for comment.
Donahue was the last American soldier on the ground at Kabul’s international airport and oversaw the last departure from Afghanistan. He is currently the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty in North Carolina.
The final moments of a 20-year conflict and the disorderly evacuation that resulted in the deaths of 13 US troops in a suicide attack were symbolized by a night vision image of Donahue boarding a cargo jet out of the airport.
Apart from his current role as the commander of a legendary military corps, Donahue has played a pivotal role in the United States’ endeavor to assist Ukraine by assisting in the formation of the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine. The 18th Airborne Corps, which deployed to Europe to support NATO’s eastern flank following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, developed the organization in November 2022 as a longer-term continuation of its activities.
According to his Army biography, Donahue has deployed 20 times in his more than three-decade military career since graduating from West Point, including assignments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Following the Abbey Gate explosion, which claimed the lives of 13 US service members in the closing days of the departure from Afghanistan, Mullin was among the most outspoken Republicans demanding accountability. Mullin specifically mentioned Donahue when he stated that “not one person has been held accountable for the disaster” on the third anniversary of the explosion. Additionally, he chose former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, who had a tense relationship with President-elect Donald Trump and has been under fire from him on numerous occasions.
Several former Defense Department officials, notably Mark Esper, who was Trump’s Defense secretary for 16 months during his first administration, publicly and vocally supported Donahue. On social media, Esper praised Donahue as a “great pick” with “tremendous experience.”
“The White House, not the Defense Department, and definitely not the uniformed leaders who faithfully carried out President Biden’s misguided decisions bear responsibility for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021,” Esper stated, calling for the hold to be lifted.
On social media, retired Gen. Tony Thomas, the head of US Special Operations Command, denounced the hold as a “complete disgrace” and referred to Donahue as “the finest officer I ever served with.”
