Senators are exploring a proposal that could unstick Tommy Tuberville’s military blockade — if it can pass the Senate.
Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and others are working on a resolution that would allow military promotions to move en bloc, according to a person familiar with the matter. It could be introduced sometime this month, though the timing remains fluid as senators in both parties try to find some way around Tuberville’s move to slow down military promotions in a protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policies.
The proposed resolution would need 60 votes to win approval of the Senate and first must work its way through the Rules Committee. It is not a rules change and would not require the “nuclear option” of unilaterally altering Senate rules, which Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) oppose.
“There’s a bipartisan recognition that we have to get it done, and there are several ways,” Reed (D-R.I.) said of the confirmations for military officials.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) is separately working to force more votes on nominees for now-vacant spots on the Joint Chiefs, according to two people familiar with his plans. It’s a rare move by the minority party but the only way any nominees have moved since Tuberville started his blockade earlier this year.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last month set up confirmation standalone votes on three Joint Chiefs picks — Gen. C.Q. Brown to be chair, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith — to head off a similar move by Tuberville to force votes.
Democrats have said they were working along bipartisan lines on a solution that would see the entire backlog of nominees confirmed, but possibly also to cover future nominees. Of course, they also need at least nine GOP votes to move the type of resolution being discussed — a steep hill to climb.
The resolution would not be permanent and would only last through this Congress, according to a Senate aide familiar with the proposal.
“We need to smooth the path for over 300 admirals, generals — and not only their promotions but also into specific jobs,” said Armed Services Committee member Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). “I’ve been having conversations with Republicans and with my Democratic colleagues.”
To stress the urgent need for action, Democrats have pointed to vacancies in Middle East postings amid the widening war there. Kelly said commanders in Europe told him vacancies there were hurting America’s ability to help Ukraine, and he said 90 percent of general officers would be backlogged by year’s end.
“You don’t want to piecemeal this, because they’d be catching up to a moving train,” he said.
Potential procedural workarounds for Tuberville’s logjam have been floated for months without success. Schumer has resisted holding standalone votes on individual military nominees, instead preferring to keep pressure on Republicans to intervene.
But the unfolding war between Israel and Hamas has spotlighted the need for Senate-confirmed commanders. A long list of nominees to command U.S. forces in the Middle East are caught in Tuberville’s blockade.
The crisis could ratchet up pressure on Republicans. But GOP senators could also take heat from anti-abortion groups for undermining Tuberville, who is holding up the promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Democrats were threatening a temporary rules change but declined to say whether he would support or oppose a rules change.
“Democrats are moving forward, and there’s going to come a time when we’ll have to make a decision,” he said. “I’m proud of my pro-life record, but I’m also a very big supporter of the military. I don’t agree with the policy, but this decision is having an effect on our readiness at a time when we need the military at 100 percent.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has for months urged a procedural change, wouldn’t comment on her involvement in bipartisan rules talks. But she indicated there may be more momentum to changing the rules, calling the need for a resolution “more desperate than ever.”
