Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tried again to explain the consequences of Sen. Tommy Tuberville placing blanket holds on U.S. military promotions. The Pentagon chief not only issued fresh warnings about troop readiness, retention, and security relationships with allies and international partners, Austin also noted the unprecedented circumstances.
“Today for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, two of our services will be operating without Senate confirmed leadership,” the cabinet secretary explained.
That number is now three. Navy Admiral Mike Gilday, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received a clap-out exit on Friday as he left the Pentagon for the last time.
The scope of the problem continues to metastasize: The Washington Post reported that the Alabama Republican’s anti-abortion tantrum is currently affecting 301 high-level positions in his own country’s military, but in the coming months, that number will more than double to 650.
Peter Feaver, a professor who studies civil-military relations at Duke University, told the Post that he was struck by the number of “warfighting” positions affected by Tuberville’s antics, most notably in the Pacific, where the United States now lacks a confirmed chief leading the Indo-Pacific Command.
“This is a gift to China, and it’s a gift that keeps giving day in and day out,” Feaver said, referring to the results of the GOP senator’s efforts.
Complicating matters, the Post published a separate report highlighting the fact that the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama — the state Tuberville represents — has been especially adversely affected by his radical tactics.
For his part, the far-right senator has repeatedly suggested that he has broad support for his antics, but there’s growing evidence to the contrary. AL.com reported last week:
A majority of Alabama voters say Sen. Tommy Tuberville should end his months-long hold on military nominations over new Department of Defense policies concerning abortion, according to a poll exclusively released Wednesday to AL.com.
VoteVets, a prominent veterans organization with a progressive agenda, commissioned Public Policy Polling to conduct the survey, and the results should be of interest to the senator:
- By a 58%-to-29% margin, Alabama voters think Tuberville “has made his point” and should now drop his hold on military promotions.
- 55% agree that senior positions going unfilled by confirmed promotions hurts national security.
- By a 72%-to-14%, Alabamans said military promotions should not be politicized.
- As a result of Tuberville’s radical tactics, the poll found 45% of Alabamans now see the coach-turned-politician less favorably.
A related report from Navigator Polling found similar results at the national level, where a majority of Americans oppose what the senator is doing.
The data led Andrew Bates, the White House’s deputy press secretary, to say in a written statement, “Senator Tuberville likes to claim he supports our troops, but the majority of Americans and Alabamians agree that his actions speak louder than his words. It’s past time for Senator Tuberville to follow the lead of his constituents, Alabama veterans, fellow Republican officeholders, and national security experts — including every Trump Administration secretary of defense — and end his self-serving, unprecedented attack on servicemembers and their families in the name of an extreme, partisan agenda.”
Update: The Defense secretary addressed the fiasco again this morning, and couldn't have been much clearer.
“Because of this blanket hold, starting today, for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, three of our military services are operating without Senate-confirmed leaders,” Austin said during Gilday's relinquishment ceremony.
“This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, and it is unsafe,” he added. “This sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness. It’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers. And it’s upending the lives of far too many American military families.”