Senate Democrats advance measure to end Tuberville’s military promotions blockade 

Democrats on the Senate Rules Committee Tuesday voted to advance a bill that would allow for the speedy confirmation of hundreds of military promotions that have been held up for months by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy. 

In a 9-7 party-line vote, the Rules Committee sent legislation to the full Senate floor that would temporarily allow the upper chamber to approve military promotions en masse by a simple majority vote, sidestepping Tuberville, who has blocked more than 360 nominations and promotions since February. 

The measure, spearheaded by Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), would need the backing of at least nine Republicans to reach the 60 votes necessary to pass. 

“What Sen. Tuberville has done is truly an anomaly that does much harm and requires a response,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said before Tuesday’s vote. “There’s been a lot of negativity and dysfunction in the Senate these days, but Sen. Tuberville has single-handedly brought the Senate to a new low for months.”

Schumer added that he would bring the resolution to the Senate floor for a vote “as soon as possible.” 

Tuberville, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has blocked the confirmations of military officers up for key leadership roles in protest of a Department of Defense policy that pays for troops’ out-of-state travel for reproductive services — including abortion and in-vitro fertilization. 

Tuberville’s blockade has prevented the Senate Armed Services Committee from quickly approving nominations by a unanimous vote, forcing Schumer to send some promotions to the full Senate floor for votes. 

Earlier this month, a group of Republicans challenged Tuberville to end his blockade on the Senate floor, bringing up 61 military nominators for votes, but Tuberville objected to each nominee. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been critical of Tuberville’s protest, opposed the rules change, arguing that negotiations with the Alabama senator that are ongoing should continue. 

“I’m of a mind that we ought to allow them to continue,” he said.

​​“We’re still working on trying to solve this problem, so I’m not going to support it this afternoon. We’re still hopeful we’ll be able to free up these military heroes who are not a part of any of the policymaking,” McConnell told reporters before the vote.