Senate Democrats are trying to circumvent Tuberville’s blockade on military nominees as vacancies increase

(J Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

Senate Democrats are trying to circumvent Tuberville’s blockade on military nominees as vacancies increase

Abortion

MARY CLARE JALONICK and LOLITA BALDOR

November 1, 2023

Senate Democrats are trying to find a new solution to confirm hundreds of military officers blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, 10 months after the Alabama Republican first said he would object to the nominations over a Pentagon abortion policy .

Senate Majority Leader

Chuck Charles E.

Schumer said on the Senate floor on Wednesday that the

Senate chamber

will consider in the near future a resolution allowing for the early confirmation of the nearly 400 officers up for promotion or nominated for other senior positions. The Senate is currently at a stalemate over nominations because Tuberville objects to the routine process of confirming nominations all at once by unanimous consent, and voting on them separately could eat up weeks or months of the Senate’s time monopolize.

Schumer decided this week to hold separate votes on three top Pentagon officials affected by the Adm. holds. Lisa Franchetti becomes chief of naval operations, General David Allvin becomes chief of staff of the US Air Force and Lt. General Christopher Mahoney becomes assistant commander of the United States Marine Corps.

The Senate’s maneuvers come amid a new war in Israel, and as members of both parties grow increasingly frustrated with Tuberville’s grip. Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican, had collected enough signatures to force a vote on Franchetti and Allvin and expressed frustration over the issue at the weekly GOP luncheon on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. comments from Sullivan and who requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said after lunch that the holds are a bad idea and said he was trying to convince the Alabama Republican to express his opposition in another way.

The new efforts to bypass Tuberville come after a Marine Corps announcement that Gen. Eric Smith, the commander, has been hospitalized. Smith was confirmed for the top job

last month September

, but for several months had held two high-ranking posts, commander and assistant commander, since Mahoney’s nomination for the No. Tuberville has left two jobs. Smith himself was blunt about the demands of serving for months as assistant commander and acting commander in the wake of Gen. David Berger’s retirement after four years as the top Marine.

In public remarks in early September, Smith described his grueling schedule as he juggled the strategic and supervisory responsibilities of commander and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the personnel and management duties of the No. 2 lane. It’s not sustainable, Smith said. What doesn’t stop is the clock. The opponent doesn’t take a break.

With Smith in the hospital and no confirmed assistant commander, Lt. General Karsten Heckl fulfills the duties of commander. Heckl, the deputy commander for combat development, cannot serve as acting commander because he is not currently in a Senate-confirmed position. As a result, he does not have all the power or authority that a confirmed officer would have.

Schumer said Smith’s sudden medical emergency is exactly the kind of avoidable emergency that Senator Tuberville provoked by his reckless attitude.

Tuberville has shown no signs of lifting the blockade since he first announced it in February. Despite several high-level vacancies, he has said he will continue to hold up the other nominations unless the Pentagon ends its policy of paying for travel when a service member needs to leave the state to get an abortion or other reproductive care. The Biden administration introduced this policy after the Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right to abortion and some states restricted or banned the procedure.

The Alabama senator has challenged Schumer to bring up each individual nomination, but Democrats have said that could take months to finalize, delaying other Senate priorities.

Democrats also hope to force Tuberville’s hand now that the number of stalled nominations has increased. There’s an old saying in the military: Leave no one behind, Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed said in July.

But that strategy has become more difficult as the months have passed and Tuberville has dug in.

Every day Senator Tuberville continues to hold his blanket, our military readiness is reduced,” Schumer said.

A large number of military officers have spoken out about the damage caused by the delays to soldiers. While Tuberville’s duties are aimed at all generals and flag officers, they have a career impact for the Army’s younger rising officers. Until every general or admiral is confirmed, this blocks the opportunity for a lower-ranking officer to ascend.

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