Pentagon Leaders Say Tuberville’s Hold on Military Promotions Threatens National Security

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), here greeting supporters after defeating Jeff Sessions in the 2020 Republican U.S. Senate primary in Montgomery, Ala., has laced an indefinite hold on nearly 200 Pentagon promotions. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) indefinite hold on military promotions in protest of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) “reproductive health” policy is having a definite effect on national security “in every theater, every domain, and every service,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a Senate panel on May 11.

Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley said the suspended promotions of officers is “unsettling” because many are three and four-star flag officers set to assume pivotal commands.

The promotion hold is causing “a significant degradation in readiness and morale,” Milley told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee.

For months, Tuberville has blocked general and flag officer promotions to protest against a DOD policy that provides paid leave and travel expenses for service members who must travel to receive an abortion.

Nearly 20 percent of those serving in the U.S. military are women, according to the DOD, such as U.S. Army Sgt. Danielle Farber (L), a Pennsylvania National Guard 166th Regional Training Institute Medical Battalion Training Site instructor, and Staff Sgt. Jessica Smiley (R), a South Carolina National Guard military police officer, training together at Fort Benning, Ga. (Sgt. Brian Calhoun/South Carolina National Guard)

The Senate normally confirms thousands of military nominations a year in rote mundane, unanimous votes but Tuberville is insisting they be viewed individually on the Senate floor, which many senators eschew as a needless, time-consuming distraction.

Tuberville maintains the DOD’s abortion leave policy violates the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal money from being used for most abortions. While he’s endured bipartisan criticism for the holds, several House Republicans and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) have defended his stance.

“I stand with [Tuberville] in opposing the [DOD’s] plan to use federal funds for performing abortions. [Federal statute 10 USC §1093] explicitly prohibits this. Secretary Austin, please respect the boundaries of your position and leave lawmaking to Congress,” Lee said in an April 25 tweet.

Senate appropriations panelists, including several Republicans, said they don’t see it that way with Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) calling Tuberville’s holds “dumb and stupid” and “a gross politicization of the military.”

According to the Pentagon, there are currently 196 military nominations pending in the Senate, including 64 three and four-star positions set to rotate within the next 120 days.

In the next nine months, another 80 three and four-star promotions and rotations are scheduled, including for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

That number could swell to more than 650 by this time next year, Milley said.

“It’s really 650 times three” when factoring in promotions down the chain of command fostered by one officer’s advancement, he said, meaning about 2,000 individual officers are affected.

“Most are married and probably have children so at least another 3,000 to 4,000 lives” are among those that the “delays are directly impacting,” Milley said.

Austin: Policy ‘Firmly Rooted In Law’

Sen. Patti Murray (D-Wash.) asked Austin to “explain the policy you put into place, which is the reason why our colleague from Alabama is holding up” promotions.

Austin said 18 percent of those serving in active duty in the military are female.

“They don’t get to pick where they live and are stationed,” he said, so the policy ensures if stationed in a state where abortion is restricted, they can go elsewhere for the procedure.

“The policy is firmly rooted in law,” Austin said. “One in five of our troops are women I want them focused on the mission and not whether or not they will have access to reproductive health care.”

With the military experiencing recruiting shortfalls, especially the Army, “that problem would be compounded by order of magnitude” in drawing women into the armed forces, he said, and that would be devastating for national defense.

Women in the military “continue to amaze us each and every day. We would not be the force we are without the contributions they bring to the table,” Austin said.

Murray said she spoke on May 10 with a high-ranking officer who is among those waiting for their promotion “to go through for a year.”

While Congress can diddle over Tuberville’s holds, he can’t, she said.

He is “being sent to a new posting without his new title “and will assume new duties and responsibilities without compensation, Murray said before submitting a May 5 letter from Austin in response to a request by Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee Chair Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

“This indefinite hold harms America’s national security and hinders the Pentagon’s normal operations,” Austin wrote in his four-page letter, noting because of the holds some commanders are taking on the responsibilities of two positions at once and warning if it persists, there will be “acute, self-inflicted problems.”

“Without these leaders in place, the U.S. military will incur an unnecessary and unprecedented degree of risk at a moment when our adversaries may seek to test our resolve,” Austin told Warren.

“The department relies on these experienced leaders to execute tactical actions every day and extend our strategic advantages for the long term. Their importance cannot be overstated.”

Before the Senate panel on May 11, Austin said the political nature of the holds has some officers rethinking their careers.

“It would tragic if that type of talent starts to vote with their feet” and leaves the military because of Congressional politics,” he said.

Plus, Austin said, it’s just downright unfair.

“These people have earned the right to be promoted and their families deserve what goes with that,” he said.