Senate Confirms Top Military Officer, Bypassing Tommy Tuberville’s Abortion Protest

The U.S. Senate successfully confirmed one military nominee to a new post on Wednesday, with two more approvals pending, as lawmakers navigated around a lengthy hold by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Tuberville had been withholding approval for approximately 300 promotions to senior military positions since February in protest of a Department of Defense policy.

Traditionally, military promotions have been approved without significant controversy. However, Senator Tuberville’s holdup stemmed from his objections to a Pentagon policy that provides compensation to troops for certain travel expenses related to states where abortion services are available, among other costs.

On the Senate floor, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized Tuberville’s actions and pledged to push forward with the nominations of several top military officials, including Gen. C.Q. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. Eric Smith, Commandant of the Marine Corps; and Gen. Randy George, Army Chief of Staff.

The Senate successfully confirmed Gen. Brown on Wednesday evening, and it is anticipated that Gen. George and Gen. Smith will also receive confirmation this week.

“These men should have already been confirmed. They should already be serving in their new positions,” Schumer asserted. He went on to express his frustration with the need to navigate procedural obstacles to accommodate one senator’s objection, referring to Tuberville as “brazen and misguided.”

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin congratulated Gen. Brown on becoming the nation’s highest-ranking military officer but criticized Senator Tuberville for impeding promotions for hundreds of other military leaders.

“Senator Tuberville’s continued hold on hundreds of our nation’s military leaders endangers our national security and military readiness,” Austin stated. “It is well past time to confirm the over 300 other military nominees.”

Senator Tuberville and some of his Republican colleagues suggested that Senator Schumer could schedule individual votes on officers, an idea that Democrats rejected as unwieldy. A Congressional Research Service report revealed that voting on each officer separately would necessitate the Senate’s undivided attention for a month.

In response, Senator Tuberville reiterated his stance, emphasizing that his hold would persist as long as the Pentagon’s abortion policy remained in place. “Let’s do one at a time or change the policy back,” Tuberville urged. “Let’s vote on it.”

It’s worth noting that Democrats have employed similar holds on military promotions in the past. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) notably prevented votes for two weeks in 2019 due to concerns that then-President Donald Trump had retaliated against an officer who had testified during his first impeachment hearing.