PANEL TAKES STEP TO END BLOCKADE OF MILITARY NOMINATIONS

Senate Democrats pushed ahead Tuesday with a resolution that would allow for the quick confirmation of hundreds of military nominees, an attempt to maneuver around a blockade from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., over a Pentagon abortion policy.

Almost 400 military nominations are in limbo, and the number is growing, due to Tuberville’s blanket hold on confirmations and promotions for senior military officers. Despite bipartisan outrage and pressure from members of his own party, the senator has dug in as he fights the Pentagon to end its abortion policy. It’s a stance that has left key national security positions unfilled and military families with an uncertain path forward.

“There has been a lot of negativity and dysfunction in the Senate these days, but Senator Tuberville has singlehandedly brought the Senate to a new low,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at the Senate Rules Committee meeting where the resolution was approved.

The panel voted 9-7 to approve a resolution that would allow the Senate to confirm groups of the military nominees at once for the remainder of the congressional term. The Senate has traditionally confirmed large batches of military officers together, but that process can be upended by just one senator who objects.

The resolution will now head to the Senate f loor for a vote, where Democrats will need at least nine Republican votes for passage. While Republicans on the rules panel opposed the measure, arguing that the move could erode the powers of the minority in the Senate, some have signaled they might change their minds if Tuberville does not drop the holds before then.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who criticized Tuberville’s holds before the committee vote, said he would oppose the Democratic resolution “at this particular moment.” But he did not say whether he might vote for it on the floor.

Of Tuberville, McConnell said that “unfortunately, our colleague has chosen instead to exert his leverage on career military officers with no influence over this administration’s policy priorities.”