Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday announced individual floor votes on the nominations of Admiral Lisa Franchetti to be Chief of Naval Operations and General David Allvin for Chief of Staff of the Air Force. The votes will take place less than two months after Schumer agreed to hold individual floor votes, all while Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) maintains his hold on military promotions and nominations in response to the Pentagon's abortion policy. Under the policy, which violates 10 U.S.C. 1093, servicemembers and their dependents can receive paid time off for abortions. Travel expenses are covered if the abortion takes place in another state and there is no gestational limit.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tuberville had obtained 16 signatures on a cloture petition for the nomination of General Christopher Mahoney to be Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. Tuberville had also asked for floor votes in September in order to confirm Gen. Eric Smith as the next commandant of the Marine Corps., as well as Charles "C.Q." Brown as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Gen. Randy George to become chief of staff of the Army.
Franchetti and Allvin were each ultimately confirmed by a vote of 95-1. Mahoney was confirmed by a vote of 86-0.
The announcement from Tuberville's office came in a Wednesday press release, and the senator also took to his political X account to call out those who still confuse the narrative.
Just as many other news outlets did in light of the first round of individual floor votes in September, Fox News' Jennifer Griffin sharing a conflicting headline on what Tuberville is actually doing.
Posting a Military.com article with the headline of "Marine Commandant Remains Hospitalized as Senator Moves to Lift Blockade on Service's Second in Command," Griffin claimed an "About face" was going on and that "Sen Tuberville reverses course, agrees to lift his hold on Marine."
As the senator himself pointed out, though, that's not the case. "My hold is on unanimous consent, not the individuals. They can be voted on one at a time...just like always," Tuberville's post read in part. "Chuck Schumer could've been calling these noms up since February. He's refused."
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9 months in and the "journalists" reporting on this have zero understanding of what's happening.
— Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) November 1, 2023
My hold is on unanimous consent, not the individuals. They can be voted on one at a time...just like always.
Chuck Schumer could've been calling these noms up since February. He's… https://t.co/vrHN9afJZ6
These individual floor votes are what Tuberville and others have been pointing to all along when it comes to something Schumer could have done on his own, as his party controls the chamber. Tuberville has objected to letting nominations and promotions sail through via unanimous consent.
This news comes less than a week after reports revealed Democrats plan to use a rule change to force votes, though by the next day reports also indicated that that plan looked to fail, especially since Republican support was needed. Republicans, from all sides of the conference, continue to be appear opposed to such a plan.
Tuberville and his staff have called on the Biden administration to negotiate, though President Joe Biden indicated months ago he has no interest in doing so. His administration instead prefers to spend their energy calling on Tuberville to be the one to negotiate, which includes urging Republicans to get their colleague to do so.
While speaking to CNN's Manu Raju about the Democrats' proposal, Tuberville said the rule change is "typical of this place," adding "this administration would rather burn the Senate down and that’s what would happen. He warned that "if you change the rules of the Senate then it lasts forever," again emphasizing "so they would rather burn down the Senate than negotiate."
Tuberville has significant support from Republicans, not just in the Senate, but in the House as well. Grassroots leaders and veterans also support Tuberville with sticking to the rule of law and right to life with his holds, as do Alabama voters.
The votes on Mahoney, Franchetti, and Allvin could take place later on Wednesday or Thursday.
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