Sen. Tuberville Partially Lifts Military Blocks

Updated Dec. 8, 2023, 5:15 p.m. EST

• Sen. Tommy Tuberville partially lifted his blockade on more than 400 senior military promotions this week, which were part of his protest of the Pentagon's policy to reimburse troops who travel to seek abortions. 
• Due to the blocks, many officers were unable to move to their next posting, including high-level, senior positions such as four-star general or admiral. The Defense Department is working to ensure that the officers who were confirmed to lower ranks can move into their assigned spots as quickly as possible. However, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said this process will take time.  

Updated Nov. 9, 2023, 5:30 p.m. EST

• Senate Republicans lashed out against Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) as hundreds of military promotions remain stalled. The war in Gaza has brought tensions over the military halt to the fore.
• On Wednesday night, several Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Joni Ernst (Iowa), and Lindsey Graham (S.C.), confronted Tuberville, pushing him to end his hold for the sake of national security. 
• Tuberville refused to compromise, and the confrontation lasted nearly five hours. Every time one of his colleagues proposed an individual officer for promotion, Tuberville declared, "I object."
• Sen. Sullivan said:

"Xi Jinping is loving this. So is Putin. How dumb can we be, man?"

• There are now 375 military officers impacted by the block on promotions. The Senate can bypass the hold by voting on officers' promotions individually, but this would take months.

Updated Sept. 21, 2023, 11:35 a.m. PST

• Despite Sen. Tuberville's block on military promotions, the Senate voted to confirm Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday. Brown Jr. will replace retiring Gen. Mark Milley as the nation's top military officer.
• The Senate voted 83-10 to confirm Brown as Joint Chiefs chairman. They also voted to confirm Gen. Randy George as Army Chief of Staff.
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that he would move the nominations forward, as Tuberville has said he won't stand in the way of the voting process.
• Due to Tuberville's block, the military has been forced to operate without Senate-confirmed commandants in the Army, Marines, and Navy for the first time in history.
• Schumer's decision to hold votes will likely only impact key posts, and 300 nominees continue to have their promotions blocked.

Updated Sept. 13, 2023, 1:00 p.m. PST

• Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has demanded a congressional vote on Pentagon abortion policy for military personnel.
• He is defending his block on promotions, saying:

• Speaking about the Biden administration's abortion policy, Tuberville said:

"We are not a communist country. Everything that makes policy and law goes through Congress. And I told them, ‘If you change it, I’m gonna block your admirals and generals.’ At that time there was one or two. Now we’re up to 300. I think they’re starting to believe that I meant what I said.”

• Due to the block on promotions, the replacement for the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen CQ Brown, is held up in the queue. The block is also impacting personnel across all ranks:

“We know officers who … are facing genuine financial stress because they have had to relocate their families or unexpectedly maintain two residences. Military spouses who have worked to build careers of their own are unable to look for jobs because they don’t know when or if they will move. Children haven’t known where they will go to school, which is particularly hard given how frequently military children change schools already.”

What's the story?

• Six months into Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R) block on promotions for senior military officers, the civilian heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force have accused him of "putting our national security at risk."
• Sen. Tuberville placed a hold on promotions in an effort to force the Biden administration's Defense Department to rescind a policy of expense reimbursement and paid leave for service members traveling for abortions. He has pledged not to back down until the Pentagon overturns its policy.
• He has delayed the approval of over 300 military appointments and promotions, a number projected to double by the end of the year. The top leadership positions in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps are currently being filled by lower-ranked officers serving on an interim basis. The 300 officers impacted have extended their current tours or been sent on temporary assignments to wait out the blockade.
• The Defense Department's policy was put in place after federal abortion protections were overturned last year in a landmark Supreme Court decision. 

What supporters are saying

• Tuberville wants Congress to have a vote on the proposed abortion policy rather than allowing the Secretary of Defense to make the decision. He said:

"I'm not going to change my mind. They have not tried to meet me in the middle. They have not tried to compromise."

• Utah's Republican Senator Mike Lee blames Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin:

"If you want to change federal law to allow the use of Department of Defense resources for abortion, run for Congress. Stop trying to circumvent that law as secretary of defense."

What critics are saying

• The heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece:

"Any claim that holding up the promotions of top officers does not directly damage the military is wrong - plain and simple. We believe that the vast majority of senators and of Americans across the political spectrum recognize the stakes of this moment and the dangers of politicizing our military leaders. It is time to lift this dangerous hold and confirm our senior military leaders."

• Cuban-born Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said:

"For someone who was born in a communist country, I would have never imagined that actually one of our own senators would actually be aiding and abetting communists and other autocratic regimes around the world. This is having a real negative impact and will continue to have a real negative impact on our combat readiness." 

• Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said:

"It is just unprecedented to be attacking apolitical general officers and flag officers in this way. It is taking our apolitical military institution. That's a core principle of our constitutional democracy and eroding its foundation."

• Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said:

"Bottom line: This is an outrage, what he's doing. It affects the entire military. If we are asked to go through these nominees individually for promotions, we'll run out the calendar this year."

Do you support Tuberville's block?

—Emma Kansiz 

(Photo Credit: Canva)