Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, Commanding General of XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Liberty shares a few words to division personnel during the 10th Mountain Division's change of command ceremony, May 31, 2024, on Fort Drum, New York. (Alyssa Norton/ U.S. Army)
The Senate on Monday confirmed an Army general’s promotion to four-star officer after a Republican senator dropped the freeze on his nomination in the wake of backlash from retired military officers and some former Trump administration officials.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) had placed a hold last month on the nomination of Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who was on the ground during the evacuation of Afghanistan, to become a four-star general and the top commander at U.S. Army Europe.
President Joe Biden nominated Donahue for the promotion, and the hold could have upended the general’s career depending on how long it was extended. It came after President-elect Donald Trump pledged for months to fire any senior officer associated with the fall of Afghanistan.
Mullin dropped his hold, according to two people familiar with the matter, allowing the Senate to proceed with a voice vote on his promotion. These people spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Mullin’s office did not respond to requests Monday for comment.
Mullin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has repeatedly said that no one in the U.S. government was held responsible for the chaos during the U.S. exit, in which more than 120,000 people were flown to safety. The operation was marred by scenes of desperation and violence, including an Islamic State suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans. Donahue, however, arrived at the Kabul airport only three days after the fall of Kabul to bolster leadership and has served in numerous roles valued highly at the Pentagon, including a stint in charge of the elite Army unit commonly known as Delta Force.
During the evacuation, Donahue served as commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division. U.S. military officials said he was the last American service member with his boots on the ground in Afghanistan. A night-vision photograph of him stepping onto a C-17 cargo plane to end the mission went viral, crystalizing a moment of mourning for many of the roughly 800,000 U.S. service members who served there during 20 years of war.
Donahue was later promoted in March 2022 to become commander of the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, which oversees the 82nd Airborne and other prominent units, including the 101st Airborne Division, 10th Mountain Division and 3rd Infantry Division. In recent days, senior Army leaders had “wrapped their arms around” him, encouraging him in phone calls as they sought resolution to the logjam, said one former defense official familiar with the issue.
“It’s lonely when you get singled out for this kind of thing,” the former defense official said, expressing bewilderment that Trump would not want Donahue in a senior position given his extensive experience in combat. “I am certain that if Trump met CD and had a conversation with him, he would say that this is the kind of Army general that he would have respect for.”
Among those who backed Donahue are former defense secretary Mark T. Esper, who ran the Pentagon for about 18 months under Trump. Esper, in a message posted on X, said last month that Donahue was a “great pick” to lead U.S. forces in Europe and was “extremely talented, professional and apolitical.”
“Responsibility for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 rests with the White House, not the Defense Dept, and certainly not with the uniformed leaders who faithfully executed Pres Biden’s misbegotten decisions,” Esper’s message said. Retired Gen. Tony Thomas, a former head of U.S. Special Operations Command, last month called the hold a “disgrace.”
“The finest officer I ever served with, Chris Donahue is a generational leader who is now being held up for political purposes,” Thomas wrote. “At the tip of the spear defending this country for over three decades he is now a political pawn.”
Some former Trump administration officials backed the hold, however. Anthony Tata, who served in a senior Pentagon role during the first Trump administration, said in a post on X last month that there is a “dangerous trend” of generals believing they are above civilian control.
“The Biden administration infamously has held *no one* accountable for the disaster that was the Afghanistan withdrawal,” Tata wrote. “Blame whomever you want for that colossal failure, but Donahue reaped the accolades for being the last boots on the ground, as evidenced by the staged photo.” Mariana Alfaro and Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.
