Senate tests new tactic to end Tuberville blockade of military promotions

The Senate Rules Committee will take up a resolution Tuesday that could allow consideration of 350 nonpolitical military promotions at one time, bypassing Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blanket hold of nominees in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy.

The panel will vote to advance the plan, which would allow senators to change procedure temporarily without making a permanent rule change and could allow most of the stalled promotions to be considered on the floor in large batches. Major promotions of military leaders like the Joint Chiefs of Staff would still require individual votes.

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The proposal was formulated by Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). The group has been working to court Republicans to see if any would be interested in signing on. The resolution is expected to move forward but could face a larger challenge in the full Senate, where GOP support would be needed to reach 60 votes.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed to bring the resolution to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as it is approved out of committee.

“Patience on both sides of the aisle is wearing very, very thin,” Schumer said, speaking on the Senate floor Monday.

“If Sen. Tuberville continues his blanket holds on military nominations, if he won’t even listen to members of his own side of the aisle, I will bring Sen. Reed’s resolution to the floor for a vote as soon as possible. That way, we can end Sen. Tuberville’s farce and quickly confirm the over 350 military promotions,” Schumer added.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, said the United States “can’t afford to play these games anymore.”

“As Chair of the Senate Rules Committee we are working to finally end Senator Tuberville’s obstruction of military promotions by holding a vote tomorrow to allow the blocked promotions to be considered together,” Klobuchar said in the post.

Tuberville has blocked the Senate’s normal way of confirming military promotions and confirmations for nine 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.

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Earlier this month, a group of Senate Republicans unsuccessfully attempted a maneuver to overcome Tuberville’s blockade. Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Todd Young (R-IN) called up 61 nominees on the Senate floor and spoke in support of them. However, Tuberville continued to block the nominations and maintained he would only release his holds when the Pentagon ends its policy or when the Senate votes on it.

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) has previously made it clear he didn’t agree with Tuberville’s strategy.