Published November 03. 2023 12:45PM
by MARY CLARE JALONICK, TARA COPP and LOLITA BALDOR Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed three top military officers on Thursday - including the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - as bipartisan frustration swirled around Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville for blocking hundreds more nominees.
Republican senators plan to hold a closed-door meeting next week to discuss the Alabama senator’s blockade of senior military nominees, which he has been waging over a Pentagon abortion policy. Republicans have tried, unsuccessfully, for almost nine months to quietly persuade Tuberville to drop the holds on almost 400 nominees. Senior military officials have warned repeatedly that the situation threatens readiness and national security.
Anger over Tuberville’s tactic spilled out in the Senate on Wednesday evening, when a group of Republican senators held the floor for more than four hours and called up 61 of the nominations for votes, praising each nominee for their military service and challenging the Alabama senator to explain himself. Tuberville showed no signs of letting up, quietly standing and objecting to each one even as his colleagues lashed out at him.
With Tuberville dug in, there are no easy answers on how to move forward.
Republicans said they will continue to try and negotiate with him, hoping to persuade Tuberville to hold up civilian nominees instead, and said that they will also try to force more votes. Democrats want stronger action and are seeking to move forward with a resolution that would allow batches of military nominees to be passed over Tuberville’s objections. But that would need Republican support, and GOP senators are wary it could set a bad precedent that erodes the power of the minority in the Senate.
Whatever the next steps, Tuberville’s Republican colleagues made clear that they are fed up
FILE - Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on her nomination for reappointment to the grade of admiral and to be Chief of Naval Operations, Sept. 14, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate circumvented a hold by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Thursday and confirmed Franchetti to lead the Navy, making her the first woman to be a Pentagon service chief and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., questions Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on her nomination for reappointment to the grade of admiral and to be Chief of Naval Operations, Sept. 14, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate circumvented a hold by Tuberville on Thursday and confirmed Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy, making her the first woman to be a Pentagon service chief and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
This image from Senate Television video shows Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Republican senators angrily challenged Tuberville on his blockade of almost 400 military officers Wednesday evening, taking over the Senate floor for hours to call for individual confirmation votes after a monthslong stalemate on the issue. (Senate Television via AP)
FILE - Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, talks to reporters as he and other senators arrive at the chamber for votes, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 6, 2023. Republican senators angrily challengedTuberville on his blockade of almost 400 military officers Wednesday evening, Nov. 1, taking over the Senate floor for hours to call for individual confirmation votes after a monthslong stalemate on the issue.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)