Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has held up hundreds of military promotions for months but could be on the verge of being rolled by his own GOP colleagues in December, unless he can find a new compromise.
At a Senate lunch Tuesday, Tuberville gave the first indication that he could end his holds on nominations — which he put in place to protest the Pentagon’s post-Roe policy that pays for service members to travel for abortions — before a resolution hits the floor that would greenlight the promotions.
But it’s not clear how that will proceed, and Tuberville has been mum on details.
“I don’t know,” Tuberville told reporters when asked how he’ll resolve the hold. “I don’t know yet.”
Patience among Republicans with Tuberville has been running out over the course of the nine-month standoff. The furor hit a fever pitch prior to the Thanksgiving break, as a group of GOP senators, headed by a number of those who have military backgrounds, twice went to the floor to advance individual nominees via unanimous consent. Tuberville blocked every request.
At the same time, his options for an offramp are narrowing.
The Alabama Republican and his backers initially had hoped for action in the National Defense Authorization Act. But because there will not be a conference to marry the House and Senate versions of the annual funding bill, that no longer is an option.
Lawmakers indicated that they hoped a lawsuit would assuage Tuberville, but he has dismissed that possibility.
That leaves both Tuberville and Senate Republicans in a difficult spot and vulnerable to a vote in the coming weeks on a Democratic-led standing resolution that would allow the chamber to push most of the nominations through as a single bloc.
Republicans largely view the standing resolution as a last resort if Tuberville expends his holds into the new year — but are looking increasingly open to it.
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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told The Hill that he will throw his weight behind the resolution if no solution is reached by the start of the new year. A number of others have said they are taking a look at the standing resolution, which needs 60 votes to pass and was crafted by Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
“It’ll put several people in a difficult situation,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), noting Tuberville himself has acknowledged as much to senators. “Even if it’s a one-time resolution, nothing’s a one-time thing.”
Such a vote would present difficulties for both Tuberville and his Senate GOP colleagues.
For the former Auburn University football coach, passage of the standing resolution would be a major loss in the battle be launched in February.
For his colleagues, it would essentially force them to side with either anti-abortion advocates or the military — both key Republican demographics. It would also be an issue institutionally, as senators on both sides of the aisle are wary of watering down the ability of an individual member to implement a hold in the future — one of the few powers individual senators have — and would like to avoid even temporarily altering the chamber’s rules.
“We don’t want to see that right taken away,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told The Hill. “But we also need to move forward and to take care of these officers that have been held. … We’re running out of time before the issue is brought to a vote.”
“It’s going to be really tough, because nobody wants to take away the rights of an individual member of the Senate to hold nominations,” Rounds continued.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Marine Corps Reserve who’s led the floor efforts, told reporters that he pitched an idea to Tuberville that would release his hold on all military promotions for those at the three-star level and below, but keep it on for four-star generals.
It’s unclear whether Tuberville would accept that idea, as the vast majority of his blockade are at the three-star level or below, and it would zap any of his leverage.
“The time is now,” Sullivan told reporters. “Most senators are like, ‘This has gone on too long.’”
“The average colonel or admiral — these guys … can’t speak for themselves,” Sullivan continued. “If you’re that frustrated three-star admiral who’s going to take over the [Submarine Force] in the Pacific, and you know how critical you are, you can’t go hold a press conference saying, ‘What the hell?’ … Someone’s got to be standing up for these guys.”
Tuberville told Politico on Wednesday that he is considering dropping some of his holds but did not get into specifics. He also said he was meeting with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, including Reed, about the topic.
Another idea mentioned by Sullivan would shift Tuberville’s hold to civilians who would be in charge of the abortion rule, including nominees such as the under secretary of Defense for policy.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has declined to lay out a timetable for bringing the resolution to the floor. He said in a “Dear Colleague” letter to senators Sunday that he would do so “in the coming weeks,” but has not laid out any other details.
However, the time may be nearing, as Republicans grow increasingly fed up with Tuberville’s roadblock.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure on him,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of GOP leadership. “I think he’s really obviously feeling the pressure.”
Alexander Bolton contributed.