Tuberville’s blockade is (largely) over, but the consequences linger

After largely abandoning his blockade against U.S. military confirmations, Sen. Tommy Tuberville was asked whether he had any regrets. “It was pretty much a draw,” the Alabama Republican said. “I mean, they didn’t get what they wanted. We didn’t get what we wanted.”

I’d be curious to know more about how the far-right senator defines “draw.” Tuberville undermined his own country’s armed forces for 10 months because he didn’t want the Pentagon to provide travel reimbursements to U.S. troops who need reproductive care in red states. The GOP lawmaker said he’d continue to hurt the military until the Defense Department changed its policy.

In response, the Pentagon failed to pay the ransom, and Tuberville ultimately backed down. “Draw” isn’t the first word that comes to mind.

Nevertheless, almost immediately after the Alabaman’s announcement, the Senate got to work. Politico reported:

“Today, hundreds of military families across the country can breathe a sigh of relief,” Schumer declared in floor remarks. “The Senate has unanimously confirmed hundreds of military nominations that were held up for ten months by a single person, the Senator from Alabama. Thank God, these military officers will now get the promotions they so rightfully earned.

“I’m happy that after so much unnecessary delay by one senator, we have finally moved forward and given these men and women the promotions they deserve.”

As for the dozen or so officers up for four-star positions, whom Tuberville is continuing to block for some reason, the New York Democrat added in his remarks, “[W]e will work to confirm the rest of the nominees that were on hold very soon.”

But there was something else that Schumer said that stood out for me. “The senior senator from Alabama has nothing to show for his 10 months of delay, no laws changing in any way, except for the damage he did to our military readiness and the pain caused to military families,” the majority leader said.

It might be tempting to see this as an all’s-well-that-ends-well story, but it’s really not. Tuberville spent nearly a year undermining the armed forces without cause, and as recently as September, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the Navy’s top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, told the Senate Armed Services Committee about how long it will take for the military to recover from the Republican’s radical and unprecedented tactics.

“Just at the three-star level, it would take about three to four months just to move all the people around,” Franchetti testified. “But it will take years to recover ... from the promotion delays that we would see.”

But it also seems likely that there will be lasting effects for Tuberville personally. The Alabama Republican’s reputation on Capitol Hill wasn’t great headed in 2023, and after spending a year hurting the U.S. military during international crises, he shouldn’t expect to end up on any "Most Respected Members of Congress" lists anytime soon.

Indeed, it was just last month when several Senate Republicans decided they’d seen enough of Tuberville’s blockade, and they publicly accused the coach-turned-politician of, among other things, being dishonest, damaging the military during international crises, assisting U.S. adversaries abroad, and relying on tactics that were “ridiculous” and “dumb.”

Or put another way, the Alabaman didn’t just needlessly hurt the military, he also did lasting harm to his own credibility and stature, in exchange for nothing.

For his part, President Joe Biden issued a written statement celebrating the end of the blockade, while taking aim at Tuberville for “undermining military readiness and the morale of our troops.”

The Democrat added, “In the end, this was all pointless. Senator Tuberville, and the Republicans who stood with him, needlessly hurt hundreds of servicemembers and military families and threatened our national security — all to push a partisan agenda. I hope no one forgets what he did.”