(NewsNation) — Lt. General Chris Donahue was approved for promotion by a unanimous voice vote in the Senate last night.
He is now the commander of the U.S. Army for Europe-Africa.
Donahue was originally slated to be promoted two weeks ago; however, one senator blocked the promotion from happening.
NewsNation was the first outlet to scoop that Sen. Markwayne Mullin placed the hold on Donahue. Neither Mullin nor his office have publicly commented about why he put the hold on.
A NewsNation request for comment has not yet been returned.
In the days following the hold, two family members of the 13 service members killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal sent NewsNation messages approving the hold, viewing it as a measure of accountability.
The Pentagon exerted pressure on the Senate to quickly approve Donahue’s promotion, saying the hold was hurting military readiness in a critical role.
A career special operations veteran, Donahue is known as the last U.S. service member out of Kabul, with his image captured in a hazy, night vision photo as he stepped on the last U.S. military aircraft out of Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 30, 2021.
Donahue was in charge of the 82nd Airborne while it secured the airfield at the airport, an often chaotic scene as Americans and refugees raced to evacuate Afghanistan before an Aug 31, 2021, deadline to leave.
NewsNation’s Sean Noone and The Hill contributed to this report.
