U.S. military at standstill as senator blocks promotions

From Alabama to Asia, the scope of senior military officers frozen in place by a dispute between Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is vast, including not only the incoming leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but also generals and admirals focused on China policy, arming Ukraine and modernizing U.S. combat forces after 20 years of war.

Data obtained and verified by The Washington Post reveals that, as of Saturday, 301 high-level positions were ensnared in Tuberville’s hold. That number is expected to more than double by the end of the year, officials say, unless the impasse, which stems from the Pentagon’s abortion policy, is resolved. By year’s end, The Pentagon estimates that about three-quarters of the generals and admirals in the Defense Department — 650 of 852 — will be affected by Tuberville’s hold.

Each of the Defense Department’s five branches of service is affected, as is President Biden’s nominee to assume the military’s top role, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. The prospective heads of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps are all in limbo, too, along with each service’s No. 2 position. Yet those roles, all based in Washington, represent only a sliver of the controversy’s global reach.

Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, implemented the hold in February to protest Austin’s response to last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that for nearly 50 years guaranteed a fundamental right to abortion. The policy provides paid leave and reimburses travel

expenses incurred by military personnel who must leave the state where they are assigned because the procedure was banned or otherwise restricted there after the high court ended federal protections.

Those in the military, Austin has argued, do not get to choose where they serve and deserve access to reproductive care. Tuberville’s view is that federal money should not be used to cover abortion and anything connected to it.

His hold is not absolute, but it gums up the usual process in which well-qualified, noncontroversial nominees are approved by the Senate in batches. It’s possible to vote on them individually, but doing so would take months, Democrats say.

A spokesman for Tuberville, Steven Stafford, said that Republicans and Democrats alike have used holds on both civilian officials and military officers in the past.

“The Senate has a right and duty to advise and consent to the President’s nominations and to conduct oversight over the Pentagon,” Stafford said in an email. For not bringing individual names to the Senate floor for a vote, he said, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is to blame.

Previous holds have been resolved relatively quickly, however, making this case uniquely troubling and destructive over time, said Peter Feaver, a professor who studies civil-military relations at Duke University. Feaver, a national security official during the presidential administration of George W. Bush, said the nation is now in “rare and uncharted territory” given the sweep and significance of the roles affected.

The list of the 98 Air Force generals affected by the hold begin at the very top, where Brown is expected to be elevated this fall to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. David Allvin has been nominated to replace Brown at the top of the Air Force.

Other frozen nominees include Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, who is expected to be promoted to four-star general and become the next commander of Pacific Air Forces, a post central to U.S. policy toward China and North Korea; Lt. Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, scheduled to be the next four-star general overseeing U.S. Northern Command, central to homeland defense; and Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, a four-star general expected to take over at Air Combat Command, which directs the service’s fleet of fighter aircraft.

Among the 91 Army officers affected are Biden’s nominees for the service’s top two jobs: Gen. Randy George and Gen. James Mingus. Others include Maj. Gen. John W. Brennan Jr., who is expected to be promoted and become the next deputy commander at U.S. Africa Command as it prosecutes an expansive counterterrorism mission on the continent; and Lt. Gen.

Laura Potter, who is scheduled to take over as the director of Army Staff, coordinating work between the service and Austin’s office.

While the Marine Corps has a smaller number affected, with 18, the nominees being held up are extremely significant. Gen. Eric M. Smith, the Marines’ assistant commandant, has served as the service’s acting chief since early July. It’s the first time since 1910 that there has been no Senate-confirmed commandant. Smith’s would-be successor, Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, also is on hold. So is the presumed next commanding general of Marine forces in Japan, Maj. Gen. Roger Turner, another job vital to the Pentagon’s China and North Korea strategies, and the next deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations, Lt. Gen. James “Chip” Bierman.

The Navy’s 86 frozen nominees include Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who will make history as the first woman on the Joint Chiefs if confirmed as chief of naval operations. Others on hold include Vice Adm. James Kilby, who is expected to be promoted and replace Franchetti as vice chief of naval operations; Adm. Samuel Paparo, who is scheduled to become the next commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, a core joint assignment responding directly to the Chinese military; and Vice Adm. Stephen T. Koehler, tapped for promotion and to become the next four-star commander at U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The Pentagon’s smallest and youngest service has fewer nominees caught in the hold, with eight, but there are still several significant jobs involved. They include Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, nominated to become the next four-star commander of U.S. Space Command, and Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, tapped to be the next four-star vice chief of space operations.

Feaver, the Duke professor, said he was struck by the number of “warfighting” positions affected, notably in the Pacific. Leaving jobs like the chief of Indo-Pacific Command without a confirmed successor, he said, undermines U.S. messaging that it considers Beijing its chief competitor.

“This is a gift to China, and it’s a gift that keeps giving day in and day out,” Feaver said.

Feaver said the situation also leaves the United States on less steady footing with allies and partners. Numerous nominees are expected to cultivate strong relationships overseas. Of note: Brig. Gen. Charles D. Bolton, an Air Force officer nominated to become deputy commanding general of Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, an organization established last year in Wiesbaden, Germany, to oversee the flow of weapons to the government in Kyiv as it fights off a Russian invasion. More than a dozen other affected jobs are spread across Europe, the data shows.