Tuberville plans to force vote on Marine Corps leader caught up in Pentagon blockade

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) will attempt to force a vote this week on the Marine Corps commandant ensnared in his blanket hold on Pentagon nominees.

The Alabama senator has collected the 16 signatures needed, according to his office, to invoke cloture on Gen. Eric Smith, one of more than 300 nominees he is delaying over the Pentagon’s abortion policy. Once he files the motion on Wednesday, it would take 30 hours before he can force a cloture vote, though even this step is not guaranteed due to possible procedural obstacles in his way.

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“I mean, I think there were other ways of getting this done, but he was intent on pursuing a cloture petition, to use that mechanism, so we’ll see where that goes,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

Tuberville has spent months in a standoff with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who can still move the nominees but must do so one by one in a time-consuming process that would eat up weeks of floor time. The nominees are ordinarily confirmed in batches.

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Schumer has refused to do so, arguing it would set a precedent of so-called hostage-taking. The move by Tuberville, who says the Pentagon is violating the Hyde Amendment by reimbursing servicewomen for the travel costs of abortion, is a tactical play to shift blame for the logjam to Schumer.

Republicans lack the votes for the effort to succeed — Democrats control the chamber 51-49 — but it would put senators on the record and Schumer on defense.

Tuberville’s hold is viewed as politically advantageous for Democrats since it highlights Republicans’ opposition to abortion and puts them in conflict with military personnel, a constituency the GOP traditionally supports.

The petition, which Tuberville circulated at Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch on Tuesday, has been signed by senators including Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rand Paul (R-KY), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

“Schumer can always bring these to a vote — the ones he wants, the ones that are most important that he keeps saying are so critical. We’re voting on judges every day. We can be voting on some of those,” Rubio told the Washington Examiner. “He just doesn’t want to put them up for a vote. He wants to pass them all en bloc.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), formerly the Senate majority whip, told reporters he had not yet signed the petition but plans to do so.

Schumer has for months called on Republican leadership to pressure Tuberville to drop his blockade, echoing the warnings of top Pentagon brass, who say the delay in promotions is affecting military readiness. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has publicly disagreed with Tuberville’s tactics, as have some members of his conference, though Republicans have largely stood behind him.

“Well, we need something to break the logjam. I’ve been urging Majority Leader Schumer for weeks now to schedule a vote on one of these nominees,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. “We could be voting on two or three of them at this moment. So, you have to wonder, does Mr. Schumer want a result or does he want an issue?”

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), another Armed Services member, had floated using a cloture petition earlier this summer, but the effort failed to gain traction.

Democrats were only learning about the tactic as Senate business came to a close Tuesday, with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) simply remarking to the Washington Examiner that the move was “unusual” given Schumer’s role running the floor schedule.

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Rank-and-file Democrats have gone to the floor repeatedly to break Tuberville’s blockade, but he has objected each time, demanding that the Pentagon reverse its policy on abortion travel first.

Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.