Sen. Mark Kelly decries Republican colleague's holds on military promotions as 'a stunt'

Sen. Mark Kelly slammed one of his colleagues Wednesday night for holding up military promotions in protest of a Pentagon policy affecting travel for abortions, calling the move a “stunt” that is reducing the military and their families to a “political pawn.”

In an 11-minute speech on the Senate floor, sometimes brimming with anger, Kelly, D-Ariz., gave voice to five months of frustration over the legislative blockade by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., that has prevented at least 273 promotions, including the top position at the U.S. Marine Corps.

Tuberville has used Senate rules to place a hold on military promotions because the Pentagon allows travel compensation to military members who had to leave their bases to access health care unavailable to them locally. That policy includes women who seek abortion services in states where those services are no longer available since the Supreme Court decision last year left the matter to each state.

“I’ve been here for two and a half years. There is not something I’ve felt more strongly about than this, and I don’t think the senator from Alabama gets it,” Kelly said in a stern voice.

“This blockade of military promotions is doing real damage to our national security right now. It’s doing great harm to military families and it’s going to have cascading effects for years. Every single day that this continues, the consequences, the consequences of this get more severe.”

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Kelly, a former Navy fighter pilot, identified by name several of those awaiting promotions to personalize the matter. That included the man tasked with managing the Navy’s nuclear armaments and Fort Huachuca’s commanding general and commandant, Maj. Gen. Tony Hale, who is nominated to be a lieutenant general.

“He has spent 29 years in uniform,” Kelly said. “He has been in 18 different duty assignments, six in support of combat operations, and the senator from Alabama is treating Maj. Gen. Tony Hale as his political pawn.”

Hale took command of the Arizona post in 2020.

“Do we really want a leadership gap at the Missile Defense Agency?” an exasperated Kelly said at one point. “This isn’t like holding up a promotion at any other job. This blockade of military promotions, it’s hurting military families.”

Kelly said the unresolved promotions are putting families in limbo over where they will live and what service members will be doing, an issue Kelly said he understands personally as a veteran.

Kelly said Tuberville’s “stunt” will encourage early retirements and deter new recruits in the first place.

For his part, Tuberville told CNN earlier in the day that he wasn’t intimidated by the growing chorus of complaints over his holds.

“I’m taking all the fire from the other side, but I’m fine with it,” he said. “I mean, I knew that was going to happen. I knew it was going to be tough, but I’m doing it for the right reasons.”

Other Democratic senators followed Kelly to similarly condemn Tuberville’s hold on the Senate floor.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the situation reckless and hobbled the military over a view that Tuberville could express by voting against the promotions if he wanted.

“Our colleague from Alabama … is now holding the entire military chain of command hostage,” she said.

The Senate is trying to pass its version of the Pentagon’s annual spending plan Thursday before heading into its August recess period.

Tuberville told CNN he was open to allowing votes on each nomination individually if debate were limited on each one, a time-consuming move that would effectively tie up the Senate.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mark Kelly rips Tommy Tuberville for stalling military promotions