Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville says he is dropping his blockade of more than 400 military promotions that have been delayed for months over a protest of a Pentagon policy to provide access to abortion for service members.
Tuberville said he had lifted his holds on about 440 military promotions. “Everybody but the 10 or 11 four-stars,” he said. “Those will continue.”
Tuberville said he decided to lift the blockade after both Republican and Democratic Senators were ready to work around the Senate’s rules on a temporary basis in order to promote all of the nominees as a bloc.
Among the positions still under the hold by Tuberville include vice chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Space Force; the head of Northern Command; the commanders of Pacific Air Forces and the U.S. Pacific Fleet; and the head of U.S. Cyber Command. Also included are nominees to lead the Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program, head Air Combat Command and act as Air Component Commander for Indo-Pacific Command also remain stalled.
Senate Democrats will still need to go through time-consuming parliamentary moves to advance the remaining 11 senior officers. But that process is likely to take several days, not the several months of floor time that advancing hundreds of nominees would require.