Four-star officer promotions still in limbo despite Tuberville relenting on Pentagon blockade

Even after Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) backed down on his more than 400 senior military holds last week, around a dozen generals and admirals up for four-star positions are still caught in the crosshairs of the senator’s blockade as a result of his ongoing protest of the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing service members who travel to seek abortions out of state.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Tuesday it is a priority to confirm the remaining nominees before the end of the year, but some senators and staff are downplaying the possibility it will get done before they leave for the holiday recess.

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“It’s going to be an uphill battle; he hasn’t even filed cloture yet, and I’m a little skeptical it can get done by the end of the year,” said a Senate aide familiar with discussions.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate is scheduled to be in session until Thursday, but much of the focus has been on negotiating an agreement on foreign aid coupled with border security and passing the annual defense policy bill.

The Alabama senator told reporters on Wednesday he’d be open to speeding up consideration of four-star general nominees but is still demanding individual votes.

Schumer will need to file cloture and hold stand-alone votes to confirm each nominee on the Senate floor, which would require an agreement from all senators to speed up the lengthy procedural process.

However, one nomination moved forward after Tuberville dropped his hold on a civilian nominee for a senior position in the Pentagon. The Senate confirmed Nickolas Guertin to be assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition by unanimous consent on Wednesday. His nomination had previously been in limbo since March.

The Alabama senator was forced to back down from his blanket holds last week in an effort to avoid an upcoming vote on a temporary rules change that would have allowed the Senate to confirm the nominees en masse.

“We fought hard,” Tuberville told reporters. “We did the right thing for the unborn and for our military, fighting back against executive overreach and an abortion policy.”

Even though the Senate is scheduled to leave Washington for the rest of the year, Republican leadership on Wednesday insisted the officers need to be confirmed as soon as possible.

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“We want to get this done before we recess,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

Schumer has yet to clarify when the Senate intends to hold votes on the outstanding nominations.