Senate quietly promotes general in charge of 82nd Airborne during Afghanistan withdrawal

The Senate on Monday quietly approved the promotion of an Army officer who oversaw the 82nd Airborne Division as it secured an airfield at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Christopher Donahue, who is now a four-star general, was left off a tranche of promotions that the Senate confirmed prior to the Thanksgiving holiday break, which indicated that a senator was blocking the promotion. However, the senator has since dropped the block, sources told the Washington Post.

Donahue, who was a Lt. General at the time, is considered the last person to leave Afghanistan during the disastrous withdrawal in the summer of 2021. An image of him climbing aboard a cargo plane at the end of the evacuation went viral at the time.

The promotion confirms Donahue as the head of U.S. Army forces in Europe. 

The promotion comes as President-elect Donald Trump reportedly weighs legal action against high-ranking U.S. military officers who were involved in the withdrawal, after claiming that no one has been held accountable. An explosion at the airport's Abbey Gate killed 13 U.S. military personnel.

Trump's transition team is reportedly looking at whether the officers can be court-martialed for their involvement and considering creating a commission that would investigate the withdrawal, according to NBC News.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.