A top general who oversaw the 82nd Airborne Division during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was conspicuously left out of a large batch of military promotions approved Thursday by the Senate before it left town until December.

The apparent delay for Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue — President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Army in Europe and Africa and set for promotion to four-star general — suggests a senator is holding the nomination. Donahue was one of nearly 1,000 promotions the Senate Armed Services Committee approved on Tuesday, and senators in the full chamber typically clear the decks of uniform nominees before an extended recess.

It’s unclear which senator might be delaying Donahue’s promotion and why. Such holds can be done anonymously and can still be bypassed by the full Senate, although the votes can eat up floor time.

Touted by the Army as the last U.S. service member out of Kabul, Donahue led the 82nd Airborne while it was responsible for securing the airfield at Hamid Karzai International Airport as Americans and refugees were evacuating the country ahead of the Aug 31, 2021, deadline to leave. A grainy photo of Donahue climbing aboard a cargo plane at the end of the evacuation instantly went viral at the time.

During the evacuation, a suicide bombing at the airport’s Abbey Gate killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghans. Though U.S. Central Command conducted a review that found it was not preventable at a tactical level, some relatives of the slain service members, former generals and President-elect Donald Trump have criticized the administration’s policy decisions.

Trump met with relatives of the fallen service members and emphasized their loss in his campaign rhetoric, a move that he coordinated with his pick for national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.). Vice President-elect JD Vance was also vocal about the attack, saying that Trump’s challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris, could “go to hell” for not holding anyone accountable.

In the last few days, there have been warning signs that those involved in the evacuation could face punishment. The Trump transition team is assembling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal and is considering the possibility of court-martialing them, NBC News reported.

Since 2022, Donahue has led the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. He has also led Special Operations Joint Task Force Afghanistan and served as the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism.

Senate leaders typically look to confirm most, if not all, military promotions at the end of a session — and a move to block an officer such as Donahue would be rare.

But officer promotions, which have long been uncontroversial, are increasingly becoming fair game. Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama took the unprecedented step of blockading several hundred promotions of general and flag officers for months last year in a bid to force the Pentagon to overturn policies aimed at helping troops access abortion.

Vice President-elect JD Vance on Thursday held back-to-back meetings to sell Republican senators on Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Defense secretary. But that job as Donald Trump’s congressional whisperer just became more complicated, as Matt Gaetz withdrew from attorney general consideration — and new details came out about Hegseth.

California authorities late Wednesday night released a 2017 police report detailing a woman’s account of how Hegseth allegedly sexually assaulted her in a hotel room. The details add to the growing questions surrounding Hegseth’s ability to get confirmed to lead the Pentagon, though Hegseth on Thursday told reporters he was cleared of all charges.

“The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared,” Hegseth said after his Vance meetings, which started soon after the reports were released.

But within minutes Thursday of Hegseth speaking to reporters, Gaetz in a post on social media declared that he was withdrawing as Trump’s pick to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer — a stunning reversal from just a week ago, when Trump surprised Washington by tapping the conservative firebrand to lead the Justice Department.

The two developments also put the spotlight on Vance, who was in the Capitol this week to help pave the way for Gaetz and Vance to be confirmed.

Trump deployed Vance to be his eyes and ears in the Senate and to help ensure that lawmakers quickly move the president-elect’s priorities and policy proposals, including his expiring tax cuts, efforts to manage tariffs and wholesale changes to the way his administration views health and education.

Vance’s deputy chief of staff, James Braid, was even tapped to become the congressional liaison for the Trump administration, a sign of the role Vance and his inner circle will play in shepherding Trump’s agenda through the House and Senate. Braid was spotted around the Capitol during Wednesday’s and Thursday’s meetings.

But less than 24 hours after Vance’s last meeting on Wednesday, Gaetz pulled out from his nomination. Many senators speculated on Thursday that Gaetz’s withdrawal indicated he did not have the support he needed in the Senate, which became clear after [Wednesday]’s meetings.

“I’m extremely grateful for the work Matt put into the nomination process. He made his decision to withdraw entirely out of respect for President Trump’s administration,” Vance said in a statement on Gaetz’s withdrawal. “Matt is a patriot and I look forward to seeing what he does next.”

Now, Vance’s next job will be getting Hegseth, a Fox News personality, through the Senate as he faces skepticism for lack of Pentagon or management experience. Hegseth was at the Capitol for a few hours on Thursday morning, meeting with key Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee such as Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.).

At least two of Trump’s nominees — Hegseth and Robert Kennedy, Jr. — still face accusations of sexual misconduct, making Vance’s role more urgent and difficult.

Few concrete details were known about the accusations against Hegseth before the authorities released a 22-page report from the Monterey Police Department that provided a stark account from the woman and Hegseth over the 2017 incident. The woman, who was not identified, was helping organize an event of the California Federation of Republican Women which Hegseth was speaking at.

She told police that her memory was hazy but recalled that she ended up in a hotel [room?] with Hegseth, who had allegedly taken away her phone and blocked the door, preventing her from leaving. According to the report, she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot.”

Hegseth, however, told police that the sexual encounter was consensual and throughout it was checking to make sure the woman was ok. Police launched the investigation into the incident after a nurse, who examined the woman who came to the facility four days after the incident seeking a sexual assault examination, reported it to police.

Hegseth later paid the woman an undisclosed sum in connection with a non-disclosure agreement. His lawyer told media outlets that Hegseth paid the woman because he feared he would get fired from his Fox job.

Police eventually forwarded the report to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors did not charge Hegseth with any crime.

“We take them each separately, and these would have been separated,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said, when asked if Gaetz’ withdrawal puts more pressure on Hegseth. “Separated out and worked through.”

Yet other lawmakers are confident Vance, who served in the Senate for two years, can help carry out Trump’s agenda. Vance has strong ties in the House, such as with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). Other House members like Reps. John Duarte (R-Calif.) and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) appeared with Vance at fundraisers and campaign rallies. But at 40, he would be one of the youngest vice presidents in U.S. history as well as one of the least experienced in government.

Sen. Bob Casey has conceded the Pennsylvania Senate race to Dave McCormick.

Cased said in a statement Thursday that he had called to congratulate McCormick after the first results from a recount had been completed.

“This race was one of the closest in our Commonwealth’s history, decided by less than a quarter of a point,” he said. “I am grateful to the thousands of people who worked to make sure every eligible vote cast could be counted, including election officials in all 67 counties.”

The Associated Press had already called the race for McCormick but the results triggered an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law because the margin was within 0.5%.

McCormick’s win helped propel the Republicans to a 53-47 majority in the incoming Senate.