U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville‘s six-plus-month hold on hundreds of military promotions, leaving three service branches in the Armed Forces without Senate-confirmed leaders, is “putting our national security at risk” say the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force in rare public remarks.
The Alabama Republican Senator’s hold on 300 military promotions has “actively eroded” “the foundation of America’s enduring military advantage,” say Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in a joint Washington Post op-ed. “Any claim that holding up the promotions of top officers does not directly damage the military is wrong — plain and simple.”
“It is time to lift this dangerous hold and confirm our senior military leaders,” they urge.
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In February, Sen. Tuberville announced he would hold — effectively block– any Senate-required confirmation vote on any promotion of a U.S. Military officer in response to the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing service members for travel should they need to leave the state to obtain abortion services.
Recently declaring, “I don’t care if they promote anybody,” Tuberville added another claim to shore up his blockade. The freshman Alabama Senator now alleges the Senate hasn’t followed the U.S. Constitution since Trump left office.
Then, two weeks ago, Tuberville, who has a history of defending white nationalism, again reframed his opposition to the promotions.
“The Biden Administration’s liberal and woke policies are the real threat to military readiness. I’m trying to keep politics out of the military,” he claimed.
Tuberville then promoted personal attacks on nearly two-dozen U.S. Military officers. One attack included the statement the officer had “celebrated Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
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In their op-ed, the service chiefs did not mention Tuberville’s attacks, but instead said, “we are proud to work alongside exceptional military leaders who are skilled, motivated and empowered to protect our national security.”
“Senators have many legislative and oversight tools to show their opposition to a specific policy,” they continued. “They are free to introduce legislation, gather support for that legislation and pass it. But placing a blanket hold on all general and flag officer nominees, who as apolitical officials have traditionally been exempt from the hold process, is unfair to these military leaders and their families.”
Tuberville’s hold, they add, “has prevented the Defense Department from placing almost 300 of our most experienced and battle-tested leaders into critical posts around the world.”
The Alabama Senator has claimed his holds on the officers has no impact on national security or military readiness, but the three service chiefs note: “Three of our five military branches — the Army, Navy and Marine Corps — have no Senate-confirmed service chief in place. Instead, these jobs — and dozens of others across the force — are being performed by acting officials without the full range of legal authorities necessary to make the decisions that will sustain the United States’ military edge.”
They also explain that “many generals and admirals are being forced to perform two roles simultaneously.”
And they point to other impacts on the U.S. Armed Forces.
“Each of us has seen the stress this hold is inflicting up and down the chain of command, whether in the halls of the Pentagon or at bases and outposts around the world,” they write. “We know officers who have incurred significant unforeseen expenses and are facing genuine financial stress because they have had to relocate their families or unexpectedly maintain two residences.”
They also warn that Tuberville’s “spectacle” is having an impact on less-senior officers who might decide to leave the military altogether, rather than invest their futures in service that “is no longer valued by members of Congress or, by extension, the American public.”
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