Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is waging an unprecedented campaign to try to change Pentagon abortion policy by holding up hundreds of military nominations and promotions, forcing less experienced leaders into top jobs and raising concerns at the Pentagon about military readiness. Senators in both parties — including Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — have pushed back on Tuberville’s blockade, but Tuberville is dug in. He says he won’t drop the holds unless majority Democrats allow a vote on the policy. For now, the fight is at a stalemate. Democrats say a vote on every nominee could tie up the Senate floor for months. And they don’t want to give in to Tuberville’s demands and encourage similar blockades of nominees in the future. Alabama senator says white nationalists are racists after weeks of declining to say so Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that holding up the promotion of military leaders, most of whom have dedicated their lives to protecting the country, “is one of the most abominable and outrageous things I have ever seen in this chamber, witnessed by the fact that no one has ever had the temerity, the gall to do this before.” Here’s what to know about the clash over Pentagon policy. TUBERVILLE’S BIG GAMBLE Approving military nominations and promotions has long been one of the most bipartisan duties of the Senate. But the Alabama Republican shattered that norm with his blanket hold, which the Pentagon says has already stalled more than 260 nominations of senior officers and could balloon to 650 by the end of the year. Tuberville, a former college football coach who has closely aligned himself with former President Donald Trump since he was elected in 2020, has showed few signs of letting up. Democrats have repeatedly gone to the Senate floor to try and call up the nominations. But Tuberville has objected each time. Here’s the latest for Friday, July 14: Arrest made in string of Long Island killings; House passes controversial defense spending bill; Hollywood actors walk the picket lines; Two big lottery jackpots Tuberville says he won’t drop the holds until there is a vote on the Pentagon policy. But he hasn’t introduced legislation to overturn it and insists that debate on amendments to change the policy wouldn’t count. Instead, he has proposed a very specific, unusual strategy: Democrats should introduce their own bill on the policy and hold a vote. Democratic leaders such as Schumer, who support the existing policy, say it’s up to the GOP. “The onus is on Republican senators to prevail on Senator Tuberville and get him to back off his reckless pursuit,” Schumer said this week. THE POWER OF ONE In the Senate, one senator can hold up nominations or legislation even if the other 99 want it to move forward. Generally, leaders in the majority party get around this by holding a series of votes to move a measure and dispense of the hold. It just takes some additional time on the Senate floor. But Tuberville’s blockade is unique because there are hundreds of military nominations and promotions, and Democratic leaders would have to hold roll call votes on every single one of them to get around the hold. It’s a decades-long tradition for the Senate to group military promotions together and approve them by […]

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