The impasse comes at an extremely complex time, as the US continues to supply weapons to Ukraine to defeat an increasingly unstable Russia, and confronts China as it continues its breakneck military modernization efforts.
“Senator Tuberville is taking military candidates as political hostages,” said Arnold Punaro, a retired major general of the Marine Corps and former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “It can’t be helped, these are political hostages of a policy they don’t agree with by the current administration.”
Tuberville, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made the withholding in protest of the Pentagon’s new policy that pays troops if they need to travel to seek abortions. The move has halted the promotions of about 250 high-ranking military officers.
The number is growing, and Tuberville says he has no plans to stop unless the Pentagon ends the policy or the Senate holds a vote on the issue.
“There are a number of things happening globally that indicate we could be in a contest on any given day,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told senators in March. “Not passing the recommendations for promotions actually creates a ripple effect through the force that makes us far less prepared than we need to be.
“The effects are cumulative and will affect families. It will affect children who go to schools because they will not be able to change office locations,” he added. “It’s a powerful effect and it will affect our preparation.”
Meeting with local leaders in Alabama this week, the the senator said this had “a 10-minute conversation with the secretary of defense and zero conversation from the White House, so if they think this is really important what they’re doing and I’m hurting the readiness, you’d think they’d call me and say ‘Coach, you can come visit us, we would like to fix it”, zero communications”.
Trouble for the joint chiefs begins July 10, when Marine Commandant General David Berger presides over what’s called a “resignation” ceremony to hand over leadership, temporarily, to his No. 2. That officer, the deputy commanding general of the navy. Eric Smith has been nominated by the White House to succeed Berger.
Smith’s nomination has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, but will remain in limbo until the hold is lifted.
After Berger’s departure, current Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville will step down around Aug. 9 when his tour ends, giving way to his second-in-command, Gen. Randy George, who has also been nominated by President Joe Biden to succeed McConville.
Days later, it is expected that the current head of naval operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, resigned from command around August 14, after which Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the vice chief of naval operations, would take over on an interim basis. Franchetti “would have all the authority” of the office, said Cmdr. Courtney Hillson, Gilday spokesperson.
The biggest change comes Oct. 1, when Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is scheduled to retire. If his appointed replacement is not confirmed by then, he will hand over the responsibilities to his deputy, Adm. Christopher Grady.
The man selected to replace Milley, Air Force Chief of Staff General CQ Brown, is scheduled to appear tentatively for his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 11.
A day later, George is scheduled to receive his hearing to be Army chief of staff, followed by July 13, which has been set aside for the White House’s choice to lead the Navy . These dates could be postponed until the end of the month, before the August recess begins.
The name of Gilday’s replacement has not yet been announced, but Austin has recommended Pacific Fleet chief Adm. Samuel Paparo as the Navy’s next chief of naval operations, POLITICO reported. In choosing Paparo, Austin passed over Franchetti, who would still have to take over the interim leadership of the Navy.
Tuberville’s retention is not final and is more of a delaying tactic that forces Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to hold individual votes for each officer. But this process could take months.
And there is little time for the joint chiefs, with just three weeks until Congress reviews the summer, and with four nominations to consider. In addition, Schumer has resisted holding individual votes only for the joint chiefs, because doing so risks encouraging other senators to use the Tuberville maneuver.
“You have some significant holes that have been created in the main commands,” Punaro said. “This is having a real negative impact on military readiness, there is no fix.”
In the case of Brown, the candidate to replace Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the amount of time he will have to prepare is shrinking considerably.
Milley is due to leave on October 1, so Brown would like to leave his current position as head of the Air Force in early September to have time to integrate into the job. In 2019, Milley stepped down from his role as Army chief of staff on August 9, giving him nearly two months to prepare for the chair job, a luxury he is unlikely to have Brown.
Looking ahead to a long August recess in which nothing happens in Congress, and Tuberville’s control showing no signs of wavering, the Pentagon could be in for a long season of temporary offices in meetings at the Tank, the secure meeting room where bosses meet. decide the direction of the department.
“As I go along, never in my nearly three decades here have I seen so many key military positions to be replaced,” said the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. Jack Reed (DR.I.) said in March.
“If we cannot resolve the situation, we will be, in many ways, without a leader at a time of great conflict,” he warned. “So, I hope we get up to speed and move quickly on that front.”
