One of the key duties of the United States Senate is to advise and consent, but the latter has been hard to come by because one Republican lawmaker is single-handedly blocking hundreds of military nominations and promotions.
Since March, Democrats, like Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, have tried to get a Pentagon nominee confirmed or a military promotion approved.
In a fiery floor speech last week, Cardin, pushing for Rear Admiral Yvette Davids’ nomination as superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, said that if she’s not confirmed, “it would force a potential course of action that is not in the best interest of the institution.”
And each time, lawmakers are met with a similar refrain: an objection from Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
The Alabama Republican’s objections have effectively blocked important positions from being filled. His crusade is a protest against a new Pentagon policy ensuring women in the military can obtain abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
“This is an illegal policy that they’ve changed to,” Tuberville claimed. “So let’s in this body discuss it and go one way or the other. The burden is on the administration to stop breaking the law, and that’s exactly what’s going on here.”
The policy provides paid time off and reimburses travel costs for service members traveling out of state for an abortion or fertility treatments.
Tuberville has held up more than 200 military promotions and confirmations, including the replacement for outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley.
One expert warned that this blockade could impact the regular order of military command.
“There’s a precision to military life that is different from the civilian world, and when you are the officer of the day, or you are commanding troops, you are responsible and accountable for all their activities,” said Rudy DeLeon, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
“Yes, it is a hard time with Ukraine, with NATO being very engaged, with the secretary of state being in dialogue with China,” DeLeon added. “The regular order of military command is something that is cherished and very predictable, and right now that is missing.”
The White House and Pentagon say Tuberville’s protest hurts the military’s strategic readiness and national security.
“They should not play politics with our military assistance, our military readiness, and our military family,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week.
Democrats say Tuberville is abusing his power and that instead of holding up nominations and promotions, he should raise the military’s new abortion policy during the debate over the annual defense appropriations bill.
But Tuberville isn’t budging.
“These are real-time jobs, with real-time pressures, and history does not stand still while one senator places a hold on nominations,” said DeLeon.
Although this particular form of politicking in the Senate is not new, it is becoming more prevalent. Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio recently said he would block Justice Department nominations over the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
