It ended as quietly as it began: A Republican senator has dropped his hold on the promotion of Lt. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, the commander of U.S. troops in the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
On Monday, the Senate confirmed General Donahue’s promotion to four stars, or general. A decorated former Delta Force commander, Army Ranger and paratrooper with multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, he will now lead U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa as the war in Ukraine heads into its fourth year.
Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, had put the hold on the promotion last month after General Donahue’s nomination was sent to the Armed Services Committee. Mr. Mullin has not said publicly why he had blocked the promotion, and his office has declined requests for comment.
General Donahue was the last U.S. service member to leave Afghanistan as Taliban fighters took control on Aug. 31, 2021. He is seen as a likely candidate to eventually become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military’s most senior position.
Trump transition officials have said they plan to go after generals in the Pentagon for a list of perceived crimes, including taking part in the Afghanistan evacuation and promoting diversity in the ranks.
Mr. Mullin has been a vocal critic of the Afghanistan evacuation, a process that began during the first administration of Donald J. Trump, who signed an agreement with the Taliban in February 2020 stipulating that American troops would leave Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
But Mr. Mullin has reserved his criticism for the Biden administration, which carried out the Afghan withdrawal. In 2021, as a congressman, Mr. Mullin posted a photo of himself on Instagram saying he was headed home from “helping get Americans out of Afghanistan.”
He wrote then: “President Biden and his administration are absolutely lying to the American people about Americans and our friends being left behind.”
An array of current and former military and national security officials, including many who worked under the first Trump administration, had swiftly criticized Mr. Mullin’s move against General Donahue.
Gen. Tony Thomas, who was the head of U.S. Special Operations Command during the first Trump administration, was among those who had condemned the hold. In a social media post last month, he called General Donahue the “best combat commander in DOD,” in a reference to the Defense Department.
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