Sources say a GOP senator is blocking the promotion of a general involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan

Promotion of a three-star general who was part of 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan was held up by Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, three sources familiar with the move confirmed to CBS News on Saturday.

Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue was to be promoted to a four-star rank and given command of U.S. Army Europe. However, he was not among the nearly 1,000 promotions that passed the Senate Armed Services Committee this week, despite receiving the Pentagon’s recommendation.

Mullin held off on the promotion. The intention is to allow the new Republican-controlled Congress and President-elect Donald Trump to consider the nomination given Donahue’s commitment to withdrawing from Afghanistan, two sources familiar with the situation told CBS News.

Sources say that behind the scenes, the military and other allies are making efforts to persuade Congress to take further action and lift the blockade, which appears to be politically motivated.

While campaignTrump has often mentioned his surprise that, as a result, President Biden did not fire any officers over the chaotic withdrawal.

Military officers implement U.S. policy, but they do not create it. This is the Trump administration in February 2020 acted as an intermediary in the transaction with the Taliban to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan, but it was Mr. Biden who decided to implement this withdrawal even though the Taliban had violated the terms of this agreement with the US.

Donahue was the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021. During the withdrawal, the U.S. evacuated approximately 125,000 people, including 6,000 Americans, during which dozens of Afghans and 13 American soldiers were killed. in a suicide attack in front of Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul.

The United States underestimated the speed with which the Taliban would take Kabul, and well-documented U.S. logistical and planning failures were the subject of multiple internal investigations at the Pentagon, State Department, and Congress.

A comprehensive report from the Department of State released last year found that “inadequate” planning, communication failures and an inability to understand “the scale and scope of the operation” contributed to the chaotic operation.

CBS News reached out to Mullin’s office but has not received a response. It is unclear whether Trump is aware of this blockade.

contributed to this report.

Margaret Brennan

Margaret Brennan is the moderator of CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Brennan, who lives in Washington, D.C., is also the network’s chief foreign affairs correspondent and a correspondent for 60 Minutes.