Tuberville to force votes on Navy and Cyber Command nominees caught in Pentagon blockade

EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) plans to force votes on the Pentagon nominees to lead the Navy’s Fifth and Seventh Fleets and U.S. Cyber Command as patience wears thin over his military blockade.

The Alabama senator, who is delaying the promotions of hundreds of general and flag officers over the Pentagon’s abortion policy, collected the 16 signatures needed to file cloture last week, according to his office. He intends to file the petitions sometime after the Thanksgiving recess.

HOUSE PASSES SPEAKER JOHNSON’S CONTINUING RESOLUTION IN FIRST STEP TO AVOID SHUTDOWN

Doing so would ease the pressure Tuberville is under as Senate Republicans weigh whether to help Democrats end his blockade using what is, in effect, a temporary rules change. The Rules Committee advanced the measure along party lines on Tuesday.

The petitions would only make a slight dent in the blockade, which has ensnared 400-plus military promotions since February. But they would allow Senate confirmation of among the most sorely needed roles while Republicans evaluate possible offramps to the crisis.

Tuberville has filed petitions for Rear Adm. George Wikoff, to be commander of the Fifth Fleet; Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, to be commander of the 7th Fleet; and Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, to be commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency.

This would not be the first time Tuberville has forced a vote. He filed a petition in September to confirm the head of the Marine Corps and another in October to confirm the commandant’s deputy after he suffered a heart attack.

Each time, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) preempted Tuberville, scheduling those votes and four others. The Pentagon no longer has Joint Chiefs vacancies as a result, but more are considered critical.

Schumer could move the nominations, ordinarily approved without controversy in large batches, but Tuberville’s hold requires him to do so one by one, a time-consuming process that Schumer fears would set a bad precedent.

Senate Democrats have attempted to confirm the nominees more quickly, requesting unanimous consent from the Senate floor, but Tuberville has objected each time. The crisis reached a breaking point earlier this month when his own Republican colleagues challenged the blockade in a marathon session that lasted more than four hours.

Tuberville still refuses to drop his hold, centered on the Pentagon’s decision to pay for troops’ abortion travel, but is freshly receptive to possible offramps, including a legal challenge of the policy and a long-shot push to include its repeal in Congress’s annual defense bill.

Tuberville is not the only Republican to consider cloture petitions. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) threatened to file two names that Schumer preempted as well, while Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has collected signatures for President Joe Biden’s nominees for U.S. Northern Command commander and deputy U.S. Central Command commander.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Republicans, both members of the Armed Services Committee, have led the push to get Tuberville to drop his holds, including the floor revolt. Sullivan told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday he is hopeful they can end the impasse without resorting to the Democratic resolution.

“I’m still hopeful that we can resolve the issue just amongst ourselves, among Republicans,” he said.