Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) blocked the promotion last week of Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, a three-star general who was one of the Biden-Harris administration’s top military leaders responsible for overseeing the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.
According to Task and Purpose, Donahue was nominated earlier this month by President Joe Biden to be promoted to a four-star general and lead U.S. Army Europe-Africa. Task and Purpose reported that Donahue was one of over 900 military officials included in a list of proposed officer promotions that was advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee. However, Donahue’s promotion was not confirmed during the final Senate vote on Thursday.
According to NBC News, Donahue was the last U.S. service member to board the last military plane to leave Afghanistan during the Biden-Harris administration’s withdrawal. The outlet noted that Donahue served as the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at the time and helped oversee the withdrawal of U.S. Embassy staff, military forces, and Afghans who fought with American troops from Kabul.
The Washinton Post confirmed that Donahue’s promotion was blocked by Mullin, who served in the House of Representatives during the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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According to The Daily Wire, Mullin’s decision to block Donahue’s promotion comes as President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to fire all of the senior military leaders who participated in the Afghanistan withdrawal under the Biden-Harris administration. Trump’s promise to fire the military leaders comes after 13 American military members were killed and billions of dollars of U.S. military equipment was seized by the Taliban in the withdrawal process.
In contrast with Trump’s plan to fire the military leaders involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal, the Biden-Harris administration did not fire any of the senior military leaders responsible for the withdrawal plans.
In a statement to The Washington Post, James Adams, a Pentagon spokesman, highlighted Donahue’s qualifications for the promotion to a four-star general.
“His appointment comes at an extremely critical time in the European region,” Adams stated. “We urge the Senate to confirm all of our highly qualified nominees. Holds on our nominees undermine our military readiness.”
The Daily Wire noted that despite the Democratic Party’s current majority in the U.S. Senate, a single senator is able to block military promotions from being confirmed. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) previously blocked hundreds of military promotions from 2022 to 2023 as a form of protest against the Biden-Harris administration’s Pentagon policy that pays for military members to travel to other states for abortions.
