Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, is bringing to the Senate floor the recently Rules Committee-approved resolution that would facilitate confirmations en masse of military nominees whose advancements have been obstructed by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).
Tuberville has been objecting to the ordinarily routine process of confirming these picks for military leadership in protest of support made available by the Defense Department for personnel seeking an abortion. The months of his objections have resulted in gaps in leadership across hundreds of positions, though responsibilities associated with affected roles have generally been completed on what’s known as an acting — suggesting temporary — basis without a Senate-confirmed occupant.
“I will bring to the floor the resolution that was approved by the Rules Committee allowing the Senate to swiftly confirm the hundreds of military leaders that Senator Tuberville has obstructed,” Schumer said on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.
A small number of the military nominees affected by Tuberville’s indefinite blockade have been confirmed on an individualized basis, but there have been concerns about whether the Senate could feasibly produce the calendar time for moving through the rest. In a recent interview with a right-wing host, Tuberville claimed “wokeness” was leading the U.S. military to its likely weakest state in decades — something simply not borne out by the facts. There has been no link established between tentative efforts at inclusion, which some on the Right would lump under the fearmongering “wokeness” category, and some imagined subtraction of U.S. military strength. It’s just not there!
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the chairperson of the Senate Rules Committee, made a direct plea on social media on Tuesday. “The Senate Rules Committee—which I chair—advanced a resolution to overcome Senator Tuberville’s blockade on military promotions. Now Republicans need to join us and help pass this resolution on the Senate floor, so we can end the dangerous game he’s playing with our national security,” she said on X. In theory, the Republican votes could be there, considering the expressions of GOP opposition to Tuberville’s block on these promotions.
