Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently said he expects to bring a rules committee's resolution to bypass U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Auburn) military promotions holds to the Senate floor in the coming weeks.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate rules committee passed a measure to bypass Tuberville's military promotions hold by allowing them to be approved in one bulk vote.
Tuberville has repeatedly blocked hundreds of military nominees from being confirmed to their positions over the Department of Defense's policy of funding travel expenses and time off for service members seeking an abortion.
In a letter sent to Senate Democrats, Schumer laid out a series of party priorities over the next month, emphasizing Tuberville's holds.
"In the coming weeks, we must also confront the brazen and reckless blockade of military promotions, another area where extreme and unprecedented obstruction by a single Republican Senator has eroded centuries of Senate norms and injected extreme partisanship into what has long been a bipartisan process," Schumer said "The Rules Committee has acted on a resolution that would allow the Senate to quickly confirm the more than 350 military nominations being blocked by Senator Tuberville. In the coming weeks, I will bring this resolution to the floor so we can swiftly confirm the hundreds of highly qualified and dedicated military leaders being held up by Senator Tuberville before the end of the year."
The resolution would require at least nine Republican votes for final passage in the Democrat-controlled Senate. However, Tuberville has said he did not believe there would be sufficient Republican support.
Alabama's Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery), a rules committee member, voted against the resolution.
"The action taken today by my Democratic colleagues on the Senate Rules Committee is an ill-advised erosion of the institution of the Senate and the core Constitutional role the chamber should play in providing appropriate advice and consent," Britt said. "Fundamentally changing the rules of this institution, even temporarily, sets a dangerous precedent that undermines our nation's tried-and-true system of checks and balances. The Senate rules are designed to ensure the minority party has a true voice — not to whimsically bend to benefit Democrats' wishes at any given moment in time."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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