WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Monday to promote a general who oversaw troops during the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul, Afghanistan, after being blocked by a Republican senator aligned with President-elect Donald Trump.
The Senate voted by unanimous consent, meaning all 100 senators agreed, to approve the promotion of Army Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue to four-star general to oversee U.S. military forces in Europe.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., had blocked Donahue’s promotion, NBC News reported last month, citing a Senate aide. Although Mullin has not publicly explained his position, it came as Trump has threatened to fire officials involved in the chaotic US exit from Afghanistan and as his transition team investigates whether they could be court-martialled.
Mullin’s hold was lifted ahead of the Senate’s vote on Donahue on Monday evening. His office did not comment on it.
Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division during the 2021 withdrawal from Kabul, was the subject of a viral photo when he was the last soldier to board a U.S. military plane from Afghanistan.
Republicans in Congress have held multiple hearings during President Joe Biden’s term on the withdrawal from Afghanistan and in particular the evacuation of U.S. troops, embassy staff and Afghans who helped U.S. forces out of Kabul. An Islamic State suicide bombing at Abbey Gate leading to Kabul airport killed thirteen US service members in August 2021.
A 2022 inspector general’s report found that decisions by both Biden and Trump contributed to the troubled exit from Afghanistan.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
