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| Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) |
In February, Tuberville began blocking unanimous consent votes for military promotions in protest of the Biden administration's use of taxpayer dollars to pay the abortion travel expenses of military members and their dependents. Since then, over 400 military appointments have accumulated in the Senate's backlog.
While the Senate can hold individual votes for each appointment, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has only initiated such votes in a few circumstances.
Tuberville told reporters, “I’m not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer,” according to CBS News. “We just released them — about 440 of them. Everybody but 10 or 11 four-stars.”
The Senate confirmed 425 military promotions on December 5, leaving only 11 highest-ranking positions on hold.
“This policy is illegal,” Tuberville said on the Senate floor the following day. “Yesterday I announced that I would change my tactics and let the promotions go through … I’m not going to stop fighting for these things and I’m not going to stop fighting for the American people.”