Senate Democrats seek loophole around Tuberville’s military promotions blockade

Senate Democrats are preparing to send a resolution to the Rules Committee that could potentially get around Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) monthslong blockade of military promotions.

The resolution, reported on by Punchbowl News, is being led by Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). The group has started reaching out to Republicans to see if any would be interested in signing on.

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Sources described the proposal as a standing order resolution, which would allow senators to change procedure temporarily, without making a permanent rule change and could allow most of the 300-plus stalled promotions to be considered on the floor in large batches, reducing the number of votes the Senate would be required to hold. Major promotions of military leaders like Joint Chiefs of Staff would still require individual votes.

Tuberville has blocked the Senate’s normal way of confirming military promotions and confirmations for more than six months. He is protesting the department’s decision to reimburse the travel expenses incurred when a service member or dependent has to travel out of state for a noncovered reproductive healthcare procedure, such as an abortion.

Tuberville believes the policy, put into place in response to the Supreme Court‘s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, is a violation of a federal law that limits federal funding of abortions to cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life of the mother. He has vowed to hold up the nominations of general and flag officers until the Pentagon drops the policy.

In order to move forward with this method, 60 votes will be needed to move a group of nominees on the Senate floor, which will require votes from nine Republicans to join with all Democrats.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any interest in doing a big block,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the No. 2 Senate Republican on Wednesday.

The stalled military promotions come as the Pentagon has deployed thousands of additional U.S. military personnel to the Middle East following the conflict in Israel prompted by the Oct. 7 attack by the terrorist group Hamas.

Republicans have publicly backed Tuberville’s decision, arguing it’s his prerogative as a senator.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) last week defended Tuberville’s hold during a press conference criticizing the Biden administration’s policies related to Iran.

“Democrats could call those up one at a time, and they could have been doing them for months,” she said in response to a question from a reporter.

Behind the scenes, there is growing concern the holds could eventually hurt military readiness. Some Republicans have tried to get Tuberville to relent, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made it clear he didn’t agree with Tuberville’s strategy.

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Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), a member of the Armed Services Committee, circulated a petition to force Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to bring a vote on two high-ranking military nominees earlier this week. He has secured the signatures needed to move forward, although it’s unclear when he will decide to act. The petition required 16 signatures.

The backlog of Pentagon nominees, which could grow to as large as 650 by the end of the year, is typically approved without objection, usually in batches. Tuberville lacks the power to block the promotions entirely — Schumer can still put them up for a vote — but the hold basically forces him to do so one by one, eating up valuable floor time.