Tommy Tuberville to seek floor vote on No. 2 Marine leader after commandant hospitalized
Ashley Murray, Alabama Reflector WASHINGTON — Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who for months has been blocking hundreds of military promotions in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy, plans to call a floor vote on the nominee for second-in-command of the U.S. Marines Corps after its top leader Gen. Eric M. Smith suffered a health emergency Sunday. Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, gathered the required petition signatures to bring an individual vote to the floor on Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, nominee for the Corps’ assistant commandant. President Joe Biden nominated Mahoney in July. “The vote could be as soon as Thursday,” said Steven Stafford, spokesperson for Tuberville’s office. Stafford said Tuberville collected the 16 signatures he needed in roughly 30 minutes during the Senate’s weekly lunch on Tuesday. Stafford would not disclose names but said all signees are Republicans. Tuberville’s list of blocked nominees grew to 378 as of Friday but could balloon to 650 by year’s end, according to the Pentagon. Sens. Jack Reed, chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Kyrsten Sinema are mulling a proposal to bypass Tuberville’s holds and allow promotions to reach the floor en bloc rather than individually. Text of the proposal is not yet available, according to a spokesperson for Sinema, an independent who represents Arizona. Smith remains hospitalized, but further details about his condition and what happened Sunday were not released. “Due to the expressed wishes of his family, we are respecting their privacy at this difficult time. The Marine Corps will provide more information once it becomes available,” a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. Reed issued a statement on Smith just after 4:30 p.m. Eastern Monday. “I am wishing General Smith a speedy recovery. He is one of our nation’s finest and toughest leaders, and I hope he will return to full strength soon. My thoughts are with General Smith and his family,” the Rhode Island Democrat said. Tuberville also sits on the Armed Services Committee. Smith was confirmed in September after Tuberville pursued a similar effort to force individual votes for top military nominees. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York set up the votes to confirm Gen. Charles Q. Brown as the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Randy George to Army chief of staff, and Smith. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has warned the delayed promotions are a threat to national security. Defense abortion policy In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to strike down the federal right to abortion, the Pentagon announced that service members could receive leave and travel allowances when seeking abortions in areas of the country where it remains legal. The court’s decision triggered a patchwork of state-by-state abortion laws. About 80,000 active-duty female troops are based in states where legislatures enacted full or partial bans, according to a September 2022 analysis by the RAND Corporation, a think tank that has long produced defense research. Tuberville maintains the department’s policy is illegal. The Pentagon and Biden administration refute that claim. Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Chuck Schumer brings votes on senior military commanders in response to Tommy Tuberville’s effort to bring military confirmations forward
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) has been criticized for months for his holds on military promotions. On Wednesday, Tuberville attempted to bring the nomination of the candidate of General Eric Smith for Marine Corps Commandant to the floor. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York), in response, himself brought forward the nominations of senior officers – something that, as Majority Leader, he could have done at any time in this process. The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to advance President Joe Biden’s nomination of U.S. Air Force General Charles “C.Q.” Brown to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Senate voted 89-8 to advance to a final vote on Brown’s nomination. Tuberville has refused to give unanimous consent to batches of senior-level Defense Department promotions for the last seven months until President Biden reversed his abortion policy, which was an end around Congress and state laws. Brown will replace outgoing Chairman Mark Milley, whose term ends October 1. A vote on final passage for Brown took place Wednesday evening, and Brown was confirmed 83 to 11. Tuberville was one of the 11 Republican Senators who voted to reject Brown’s confirmation. Schumer moved to set votes on three key military leaders: Brown, Gen. Eric Smith to become commandant of the Marine Corps, and Gen. Randy George to serve as chief of staff of the Army. Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl released a statement praising Tuberville. “For months, Democrats and the mainstream media have been attacking Senator Tuberville with the claim that his holds on DOD promotions were putting our national security at risk,” Wahl said. “However, today’s actions by Chuck Schumer prove there was absolutely nothing stopping Senate Democrats from bringing up military promotions on a case-by-case basis. Instead of being honest and having an open debate on the root issue – using taxpayer money to fund abortions – liberal pundits and Democrat elected officials let this situation drag on as they played party politics. The reason? To vilify Alabama’s Republican senior Senator, who is simply trying to uphold the Hyde Amendment – which prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for abortion – and the Constitution, which gives the power of the purse to Congress.” “The Alabama Republican Party is thankful to Senator Tuberville for exposing the hypocrisy of the left, as well as the Pentagon’s unconstitutional use of taxpayer money to fund abortions,” Wahl continued. “Now that the truth on this issue has been revealed for all Americans to see, it is my hope that the Pentagon will end its unlawful policy. Until then, we will continue to support Senator Tuberville and his stand for life and fiscal responsibility.” Schumer’s maneuver was in response to Tuberville’s announced plan to force votes on Smith in the coming days, a move rarely put to use by rank-and-file senators in the minority. “To be clear, my hold is still in place,” Tuberville said Wednesday night on the floor of the Senate. “I reserve the right to seek another cloture position on the nominees in the future, so that’s where we stand today.” The Senate can confirm every Defense Department nominee through ordinary order, but that would require the Senators to spend much more time on the Senate floor doing their jobs: voting and going through normal parliamentary procedures. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
