In protest of the new policies, one Republican senator has single-handedly held up roughly 250 promotions for all civilian, flag, and general officer nominations, as well as high-level promotions within the Pentagon, setting up the first major clash this session over abortion access on Capitol Hill since the Supreme Court decision last year.
“It’s an illegal policy. They changed it, they can’t do it, so let’s go back to the original policy,” Tuberville said on Thursday, speaking to the“If they want to change it, let’s change it here in Congress, like we are supposed to.” The backlog of Pentagon nominees, which could grow to as large as 650 by the end of the year, is typically approved without objection, usually in batches. Tuberville lacks the power to block the promotions entirely — Senate Majority Leader can still put them up for a vote — but the hold basically forces him to do so one by one, eating up valuable floor time.