GOP senator blocks promotion of top general who oversaw Afghanistan withdrawal

GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) is holding up the promotion for a top general who oversaw the 82nd Airborne Division during the deadly 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a source has told The Hill and NewsNation.

Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, President Biden’s nominee to head the U.S. Army in Europe and up for promotion to four-star general, was one of nearly 1,000 military promotions the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Tuesday.

But Donahue’s name was not included in the promotions approved Thursday by the Senate as a whole before it left Washington, D.C., not to return until after the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

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A source familiar with the confirmation process said it’s their understanding that Mullin held up the promotion, with his objection directly related to Donahue’s role in Afghanistan.

Mullin’s office declined to comment.

The Pentagon on Friday urged the Senate to confirm Donahue.

“Lt. Gen. Donahue is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and has served his country for more than thirty years," said Pentagon spokesman James Adams. His appointment comes at an extremely critical time in the European region. We urge the Senate to confirm all of our highly qualified nominees. Holds on our nominees undermine our military readiness.”

A career special operations veteran, Donahue is known as the last U.S. service member out of Kabul, with his image captured in a hazy, night-vision photo as he stepped on the last U.S. military aircraft out of Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 30, 2021.

Donahue was in charge of the 82nd Airborne while it secured the airfield at the airport, a chaotic scene as Americans and refugees raced to evacuate Afghanistan before an Aug 31, 2021, deadline to leave.

Republicans including President-elect Trump have lambasted the Biden administration for the decisions made during the withdrawal, which turned deadly when a suicide bombing at the airport’s Abbey Gate killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghans.

Though no one involved in the evacuation has faced punishment, the incoming Trump administration might change that. NBC News reported last week that the transition team is assembling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers who were directly involved in the withdrawal and considering whether they could court-martial them for their involvement.

Mullin, in a post on X in September, listed Donahue among other officials in decrying a lack of accountability on Afghanistan.

Donahue, who since March 2022 has led the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, N.C., has also been the commander of Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan and served as the deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

While his blocked military promotion is unusual, as officer promotions are typically uncontroversial and easily passed by the Senate, it’s not unheard of.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) last year blocked several hundred general and flag officer promotions for months over his objection to the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing travel costs for seeking an abortion out of the state in which a service member is based.

Though a hold can still be bypassed via a vote by the full Senate, it’s seen as unfavorable, given that it can eat up floor time.

This story was updated at 2:55 p.m.