The Senate confirmed three more nominees for top military posts Thursday, a day after Republicans blasted Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama over his handling of hundreds of Pentagon appointments.
The upper house voted 95-1 to confirm Admiral Lisa Franchetti as chief of naval operations, while General David Allvin was confirmed by the same margin as chief of staff of the Air Force, and Christopher Mahoney was confirmed as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps by 86 -0.
With her confirmation, Franchetti became the first woman to serve as Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The confirmation came after a march of GOP senators took to the Senate floor Wednesday night to berate Tuberville after he objected to a quick vote on 61 nominations as part of his ongoing protest against Pentagon policies that cover overseas travel for military admissions. reproductive procedures, such as abortion and in-vitro fertilization.
Tommy Tuberville was in the hot seat Wednesday afternoon as a handful of Senate Republicans turned on him.AP
“Xi Jinping likes this. So is Putin,” Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said at one point. “How stupid are we, man?”
“I’m as pro-life as they come!” Sullivan added. “America needs to have our best players, most combative leaders on the field.”
A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which can approve multiple military nominations at once, Tuberville has the power to block fast-track confirmations because the committee must be unanimous in such decisions.
Joni Ernst, a veteran, argued that the restrictions are unfair to the brave men and women who are willing to sacrifice for the country.AP
That forced the Senate to go through a regular order, a time-consuming process. At the end of September, the White House estimated that it would take 700 hours – almost a month of straight work – to confirm all 300-plus outstanding nominees through regular orders.
At the same time, the upper house avoided Tuberville’s sanctions by voting to confirm Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gene. Randy A. George has also been confirmed as the Army chief of staff, while Marine Gen. Eric M. Smith has been confirmed as the new commandant of the Corps.
Some of the strongest words against Tuberville came from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), an Iraq War veteran, who claimed Tuberville had supported the confirmation of one of the officials whose promotion he was holding.
“Men & women have been denied promotions. We have done our best to meet the request of fellow senators that these nominations be brought to the floor & voted on individually. I have the utmost respect for men who speak. I have no respect for men who do not honor their words”– Ernst at Tuberville pic.twitter.com/4W2dywdfLf
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) November 2, 2023
“We have done our best to meet the request of fellow senators so that this nomination is brought to court and voted on individually,” he said. “I really respect men with their words. I don’t respect men who don’t honor their word.”
“Everybody in this body can find an issue with any administration they don’t agree with and what we’re going to do is open a Pandora’s box,” warned Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
“Who wants to serve in the military when your promotion can be suppressed because of something you have nothing to do with?” he asked. “If you think it’s illegal, go to court!”
Lindsey Graham has strong words for Tommy Tuberville who continues to freeze military promotions.AP
GOP frustration with Tuberville’s restrictions has been simmering for months, but the recent war in Israel coupled with several attacks on US troops in the Middle East — as well as a recent hospitalization after suffering a heart attack — appear to be the last.
“I want the American people to know,” Sullivan said. “Currently, 376 promotions to one, two, three and four star generals and admirals are being held. It is estimated that by the end of this year, 89% of all general officer positions in the United States military will be affected by the current holding from Senator Tuberville.
“This greatly disrupts readiness,” Sullivan added.
Tuberville refused to back down, saying at one point: “I have to respectfully disagree with my colleagues about the impact of my holding on preparedness. My holding does not affect readiness.”
The Alabama senator shows no signs of backing down.AP
“I hate that I have to do this,” added the former college football coach, “but someone has to listen to us.”
“If I thought there was any problem with readiness, we wouldn’t have done this,” Tuberville told reporters Thursday, complaining his teammates had turned to “a little bit of character assassination” the previous evening.
“We went through something last night,” he added. “We’ll get this over with.”
Democrats are trying to get Republicans to come up with a new strategy to circumvent a blanket freeze on military promotions. Shutterstock
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has decided to support Senate Democrats’ plan to modify the rules to allow votes on all outstanding candidates at once.
The concept, which was presented by Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) need to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold to take effect.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
