The Senate confirmed Air Force General Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. Wednesday night to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This overcomes the block by GOP senator Tuberville on hundreds of military promotions — a block Tuberville called for to protest a Department of Defense policy that reimburses service members for out-of-state travel to obtain an abortion.
Brown was confirmed by a vote of 83 to 11. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer earlier Wednesday filed a motion to break Tuberville’s hold, which had been in place for months, on three of the nominations for the Joint Chiefs. The cloture move ended debate on the nominees and forced a same-day vote, resulting in Brown’s installment.
On Thursday, the Senate is expected to confirm General Eric Smith of the Marine Corps and General Randy George of the Army for the council.
Since February, Tuberville has been blocking all military confirmations over a Pentagon regulation that allows female service members to be compensated for travel costs to seek an abortion out of state. Before Wednesday, Schumer and Tuberville had been caught in a tug-of-war over the holds, with Tuberville insisting that the minority leader conduct individual votes on each nominee.
“These men should have already been confirmed,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday as he filed cloture.
They should already be serving in their new positions. The Senate should not have to go through procedural hoops just to please one brazen and misguided senator. But this is where we are. In the end, the Senate will overwhemingly vote to overcome Senator Tuberville’s blockade on the three nominees by voting for cloture. Then the Senate will overwhelmingly vote to confirm them.
Schumer said the abortion policy that Tuberville abhors will “remain in place,” despite the protest tactic.
As a result of Tuberville’s hold on promotions, the Marine Corps commandant and the Army chief of staff positions on the Joint Chiefs were filled by interim officers.
As of Wednesday, Tuberville was still demanding that the votes on the promotions be done individually instead of in a group; Schumer finally acquiesced to this. Tuberville clarified that he doesn’t plan to drop his blockade despite Wednesday’s vote.
“So, to be clear, my hold is still in place,” he said, according to CNN. “The hold will remain in place as long as the Pentagon’s illegal abortion policy remains in place. If the Pentagon lifts the policy, then I will lift my hold. It’s easy as that.”