“Suicide mission” in the military: US Senator has been blocking the appointment of commanders for months

“Suicide mission” in the military
US Senator has blocked appointment of commanders for months

By Roland Peters
November 2, 2023, 9:18 p.m

Each year, the U.S. Senate confirms hundreds of new officers to its armed forces. But for many months a senator has been standing in the way and blocking the well-established process. “If that becomes the rule, then God help the military,” a party colleague complains to him.

The deputy commander of the army. The highest officer in missile defense. The new commander of the Navy in the Middle East. These are just three of almost 400 US military leaders who are unable to do their job or can only do it to a limited extent. A Republican senator is obstructing her confirmation in Congress. The US Department of Defense, analysts and party colleagues are alarmed.

Tommy Tuberville was carrying out a “national security suicide mission,” said Senator Dan Sullivan, himself a Republican and a reserve officer. By the end of the year, 89 percent of high-ranking officer positions in the armed forces would be affected. Tuberville from the conservative state of Alabama does not want soldiers to be paid for travel expenses for medical treatment by the Defense Department. With the blockade, Donald Trump’s ally is trying to force the abolition of special leave and reimbursement of costs for reproductive health, i.e. in the case of intended pregnancies or abortions. Less than a hundred demolitions are carried out throughout the year.

On Wednesday, the Republican senators tried for several hours in a joint initiative to change the recalcitrant Tuberville’s mind. “This regulation is illegal and immoral,” he said as justification. However, he is completely alone in this: Other Republicans in the Senate, almost all of them abortion opponents, consider the country’s defense capability to be more important. “The military is taking a lot of damage from this,” rumbled Lindsay Graham from South Carolina, who is also part of the Trump wing of the party: “I’ve been trying to work with you for nine months.” But during this time, no quick fix has seen the light of day in the House of Congress.

Angry party colleagues

All high-ranking officers and thus also the commanders in chief must be confirmed by the Senate, which often happens without much fanfare across parties; Hundreds of cases every year. But if the Chamber of Congress voted on each officer individually, the senators would hardly be able to do anything else. So the names have so far been combined into lists. Tuberville blocked this very thing, but had said he would participate if officers were brought forward individually. But when his party colleagues did so on Wednesday, the senator stuck to his no. This also upset his colleagues.

After hours of intense pleading, he prevented a total of 61 confirmations until late in the evening. There was “zero chance” of him ending his blockade, he said. Instead, Tuberville complained that no one in the U.S. government, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, had contacted him to negotiate. For good reason: it’s also about preventing possible imitators in the future. If the senators gave in to the rebel’s demands, they would set a precedent.

Sullivan complained to his colleagues that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin “love” what is currently happening in the Senate: “How stupid can we be?” He warned: “We have a really dangerous world at the moment.” The senator is “100 percent wrong” if he believes that his behavior does not affect the combat readiness of the US armed forces. The nominees are being used as “political pawns,” said Senator Joni Ernst. And Graham advised Tuberville that if he was dissatisfied with the arrangement, he should sue the military instead. “That’s how you deal with these things.”

Tedious alternative

Several party colleagues fear that capable soldiers could leave the armed forces if Tuberville remains stubborn. “If that becomes the rule, then God help the military,” said Republican Graham. Everyone can find some reason to question the rules. The entire transport practice and much more is in danger. “Who the hell wants to serve in the military when your promotion can be trashed for something you have nothing to do with?” he asked Tuberville.

The senator’s blockade is permeable, but it requires the entire chamber of Congress to take the time to personally vote on each individual officer. This Thursday, the Senate did just that and voted for at least the most pressing positions; He confirmed Admiral Lisa Franchetti as the new commander of the Navy and General David Allvin as commander of the US Air Force. The Senate took a similar approach to the new commander of the US armed forces, General Charles Brown. He succeeded General Mark Milley.

The Democrats, for their part, are now considering an initiative to prevent the armed forces from being drawn into the ideological trench warfare in Congress and how else entire lists can be confirmed. To do this, they want to initiate a temporary change to the voting rules. This would take several weeks of preparation, and some Republicans would also have to agree. But it wouldn’t paralyze the world power’s legislative process for months – because a single senator is against abortion.