Navy latest military branch without top leader due to Tuberville hold — 3 of 5 now missing high-ranking officer: ‘Painful milestone’
WASHINGTON – Three of the five US military branches are now without a top officer after the Navy’s chief of operations retired Monday amid Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s months-long hold on Defense Department appointments.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during Adm. Mike Gilday’s relinquishment of command ceremony that his departure without a Senate-confirmed successor marked a “painful milestone” in US history.
“Starting today, for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, three of our military services are operating without Senate-confirmed leaders,” Austin said. “This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary and it is unsafe.”
Tuberville (R-Ala.) has declined to allow rapid votes to sign off on the nominations of more than 300 military officers – including those tapped to replace the now-retired former commandant of the Marine Corps and former chief of the Army.
Tuberville began his hold in March to protest Pentagon policies that pay for troops and their families to travel across state lines to receive reproductive healthcare services such as in-vitro fertilization and abortion.
Despite countless calls from current and former military leaders, the White House, and both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, the former college football coach has refused to relent.
“This sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness, it’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers, and it is upending the lives of far too many American military families,” Austin said. “Our troops deserve better. Our military families deserve better. And our allies and partners deserve better and our national security deserves better.”
The Defense Department also has not shown any willingness to appease Tuberville by changing its policy, which could be done by Congress through legislation.
Pentagon officials say that all service members and their families should have access to the same level of healthcare regardless of where they are stationed.
Service members do not have a say in where the military assigns them to work and live, meaning that some may be stationed in states where certain reproductive services are outlawed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said Monday that it is “well past time for the United State Senate to address the nominations” of hundreds of officers across each service, criticizing not only Tuberville but all members of Congress for not taking action.
While Tuberville’s objection prevents the Senate from giving the unanimous consent necessary to approve military nominations in bulk, the chamber could take on the confirmation process through regular order – though it would be a long and arduous process to vote on each candidate one-by-one.
“Not doing so will continue to degrade our readiness and will even put the very lives – yes, the very lives – of our servicemen and women, your young men and women, at risk by not allowing our most experienced worth fighters to lead,” Del Toro said. “The American people deserve to have their best military leaders in place.”
The Pentagon now faces the possibility of going without a top officer in charge of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with Army Gen. Mark Milley set to retire this fall.
“Smooth and swift transitions have confirmed leadership are central to the defense of the United States and to the full strength of the most lethal fighting force in history,” Austin said. “And it’s time for the Senate to confirm all of our superbly qualified military nominees.”
