The Senate has confirmed the next Joint Chiefs chairman and the new uniformed leaders of the Army and Marine Corps, working around Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) ongoing block of military promotions while hundreds still remain held up.
On Wednesday, the Senate moved to bring Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown’s nomination to be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff up for floor consideration and he was confirmed with an 83-11 vote. Then, on Thursday, the Senate voted 96-1 to approve Gen. Randy George as Army chief of staff and 96-0 for Gen. Eric Smith to be Marine Corps commandant.
“Senate Democrats are looking for every opportunity to get our military officers promoted. Today, [Majority] Leader [Chuck] Schumer (D-N.Y.) outmaneuvered Sen. Tuberville and again exposed his hold for the absurd, dishonest political stunt it is,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “I am glad we will get three key military posts filled, but hundreds more merit-based promotions are still frozen. We still have a lot more work to do to try and undo the damage Senator Tuberville is inflicting on military readiness and national security, and we need Senate Republicans to stop hiding from their duty to hold their colleague accountable.”
Military nominations and promotions are typically considered en bloc to approve a large number at once via unanimous consent and avoid the lengthier process of considering each one individually on the floor, while Tuberville’s hold is prohibiting the speedier effort.
Following Wednesday’s vote on Brown’s nomination, Tuberville affirmed he will keep his blanket hold in place over his objection to the Pentagon’s policy reimbursing service members that leave the state they are stationed in to receive reproductive healthcare services.
“We don’t have a lack of leadership in our military—we have a lack of leadership right here in the United States Senate. Despite the lack of leadership, Senators are perfectly capable of voting. Voting is our job. That’s why we were sent here,” Tuberville said. “So, to be clear, my hold is still in place. The hold will remain in place as long as the Pentagon’s illegal abortion policy remains in place. If the Pentagon lifts the policy, then I will lift my hold. It’s as easy as that.”
Reed in July said it would take 668 hours to consider all 251 pending nominations, which has now grown to over 300, if the Senate were forced to consider each one individually on the floor.
“That is an impossible goal to achieve and, by the way, that would prevent us from dealing with issues like the [NDAA], appropriations bills and other important legislation,” Reed said at the time.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated following Brown’s confirmation that Tuberville’s ongoing block “endangers our national security and military readiness” and on Thursday added that all three promotions were “long overdue.”
“We continue to see the impacts of the hold on over 300 of our outstanding general and flag officers. This is unprecedented, unnecessary and unsafe. Ensuring we have Senate-confirmed military leaders in place is critical to the defense of our nation and the readiness of our force. I’m committed to engaging with members of Congress until all of our highly qualified general and flag officers are confirmed,” Austin said.
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti told SASC during her confirmation hearing last week to be the next Chief of Naval Operations that it will take years for the Navy to recover from the impact of Tuberville’s hold on promotions (Defense Daily, Sept. 14).
During a Department of Defense press briefing following Franchetti’s hearing, Deputy DoD Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said “her comments are absolutely right.”
“As these promotions continue to get delayed, that pushes back other promotions which is going to cause, you know, others of our senior level officers to consider whether they should retire. And you’re going to really see, potentially, a hollowing out of our military. So this absolutely has hugely consequential impacts for years to come,” Singh told reporters.
Singh also confirmed Franchetti was speaking on behalf of the Navy, but the Defense Department “completely agree[s] with that across all the military services.”