As vacancies rise, Senate Democrats work to circumvent Tuberville’s blockade on military nominees

WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Democrats are trying a new solution to uphold Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of military officers, 10 months after the Alabama Republican first said he would oppose to appointments due to a Pentagon abortion policy.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday that the Senate will soon consider a resolution that would allow for the rapid confirmation of the nearly 400 officers who are being promoted or appointed to another leadership position. The Senate is currently deadlocked over the nominations because Tuberville objects to the usual process of confirming nominations all at once by unanimous consent, and voting on each one could take up weeks or months of the Senate’s time .

Schumer separately proposed holding votes as early as this week on three senior Pentagon officers affected by the seizures. Admiral Lisa Franchetti as Chief of Naval Operations, Gen. David Allvin as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, and Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney will be named Deputy Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. United.

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

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said after lunch that the withholdings were a bad idea and said he had tried to convince the Alabama Republican to express his opposition in another way.

The new efforts to bypass Tuberville come after the Marine Corps announced that Gen. Eric Smith, the commander, was hospitalized. Smith was confirmed to the top job last month, but had been holding two top positions, commander and deputy commander, for several months because Mahoney’s nomination for the No. 2 job was delayed by Tuberville. Smith himself has been outspoken about the demands of serving as both deputy commander and acting commander for months following 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 oversight responsibilities of commander and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the personnel and management duties of the post #2. That’s not sustainable, Smith said. What doesn’t stop is the clock. The opponent doesn’t take a break.

With Smith hospitalized and no confirmed deputy commander, Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl is serving as commander. Heckl, who is deputy commander for combat development, cannot serve as acting commander because he does not currently hold a Senate-confirmed position. As a result, he does not have all the powers or authority that a senior officer would have.

Schumer said Smith’s sudden medical emergency is precisely the kind of preventable emergency that Sen. Tuberville caused with his reckless handling.

Tuberville has shown no signs of lifting the blockade since he first announced it in February. Despite several high-level vacancies, he said he would continue to delay other appointments unless the Pentagon ends its policy of paying for travel when a service member must leave the state to have an abortion or obtain other reproductive care. The Biden administration instituted the policy after the Supreme Court struck down the nation’s right to abortion and some states limited or banned the procedure.

The Alabama senator challenged Schumer to propose each individual nomination, but Democrats said it could take months and delay other Senate priorities.

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

But this strategy became more difficult as the months passed and Tuberville went deeper.

Every day that Senator Tuberville maintains his cover, our military preparedness deteriorates, Schumer said.

Many military officers denounced the damage caused by the delays for the military. Although Tuberville’s takes focus on all generals and flag officers, they impact the careers of young, rising military officers. Until every general or admiral is confirmed, this blocks the opportunity for a more junior officer to rise.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.