More than 300 signs bearing names, ranks and photos of each military nomination stalled by Tuberville’s hold dotted the lawn outside the U.S. Senate: Ashley Murray/NAJ screen shot
By Ashley Murray –
Maryland Matters –
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville’s one man filibuster of President Joe Biden’s top military appointments effectively came to an ignominious end Tuesday night when the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the remainder of the senior generals and admirals on hold for the past year in a MAGA right-wing protest of the Pentagon’s policy on abortion.
It was not clear what changed Tuberville’s mind and convinced him to back down.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York asked for unanimous consent on the floor for the confirmations of several four-star generals and “all nominations on the Secretary’s Desk in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force.”
“These 11 flag officers have now been approved, joining the rest of their colleagues,” Schumer said. “That’s good news.”
Among the nominees confirmed: Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach as Air Force Commander, Air Combat Command in Virginia; Gen. Gregory M. Guillot as Commander, United States Northern Command in Colorado; Gen. Timothy D. Haugh as Commander, United States Cyber Command in Maryland; and Gen. Stephen N. Whiting as Commander, United States Space Command in Colorado.
No senator objected, as has been routine prior to the Tuberville blockade for how the upper chamber approved large groups of military promotions.
Earlier in the day, Schumer highlighted on the floor that last week the Senate had approved retroactive pay for the nominees who were caught in the larger bloc of holds. The bill has not reached the House.
“Providing back pay for these military families was the very, very least the Senate could do to right this awful wrong, and I am glad we did it,” Schumer said.
Tuberville was one of the original co-sponsors of the bill, introduced by Senators Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, and Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who is retiring and has hinted as an independent run for president.
Senator Tommy Tuberville had been holding up the promotions of senior military officials to protest a Pentagon abortion policy: Kenny Holston/New York Times/NAJ screen shot
For the majority of 2023, Tuberville had been the only senator to object to a growing list of nominations, for an unprecedented 10 months.
The former Auburn University football coach relented on Dec. 5, except for a handful of four-star general nominees in line for top leadership spots in the U.S. armed forces.
By late November the list of nominees affected by Tuberville’s monthslong hold had grown to 451 members of the military, according to a Department of Defense official. Majority staff for the Senate Armed Services Committee listed 445 affected nominees at the time.
Tuberville’s Filibuster
Tuberville blocked the nominations as a protest against a recent Pentagon policy that allows armed services members time off and travel reimbursement should they need to seek an abortion in a state where it remains legal.
Roughly 80,000 active-duty female service members are stationed in states where legislatures enacted full or partial bans following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a RAND analysis.
The Biden administration and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin maintain the policy is legal, as did a 2022 Department of Justice opinion.
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Republished with permission and some light editing from Maryland Matters under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
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