Sen. Mike Lee explains his votes opposing promotions for 2 generals
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After a monthslong blockade of votes on military promotions in the Senate over the Pentagon’s policy on paying for service members to travel for abortions, three military promotions were approved by the Senate this week.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who has led the blockade, told Republican colleagues Tuesday he would back a vote for Gen. Eric Smith to be confirmed as commandant for the Marine Corps, the Daily Signal reported. Smith was confirmed Thursday in a 96-0 vote.
The Senate also confirmed Gen. Randy George as the Army chief of staff Thursday in a 96-1 vote. Utah Sen. Mike Lee was the lone vote in opposition.
Lee also opposed the confirmation of Gen. Charles Q. Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was confirmed Wednesday in an 83-11 vote. Brown will assume the position when Gen. Mark Milley retires later this month. Tuberville also voted “no” on Brown.
Lee explained his “no” votes on George and Brown in a statement to the Deseret News.
“Thanks to Senator Tuberville, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer finally advanced three major Department of Defense nominations and military promotions through regular order,” Lee told the Deseret News in a statement. “While I supported General Smith’s confirmation as the Marine Corps Commandant, I held reservations about General Brown’s positions on mandating controversial ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ trainings, as well as General Brown’s open advocacy for diversity quotas. I held similar concerns with remarks General George made in testimony before Congress.”
“Our military leadership must remain devoted to their primary mission: the safety and defense of our nation, prioritizing readiness and lethality rather than radical cultural and social policies. With these concerns in mind, I look forward to forging a productive relationship with leadership of each service branch to ensure that America’s best interests come first,” Lee’s statement continued.
Tuberville launched a petition signed by 17 Republican senators “to back a cloture motion,” so that the Senate could attempt to confirm Smith, according to The Hill.
Following the petition, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer set the process in motion to confirm three military nominations including Smith’s.
Tuberville, who has been blocking confirmation of military nominations over his opposition to a Pentagon policy which funds service members’ travel to receive abortions, said he supported voting on the nominations.
“I demanded a vote on this nomination. And Chuck Schumer just gave it to me. Let’s go vote,” Tuberville said on X.
On the blockade, Tuberville has said he wanted it to force individual votes on each promotion, which Schumer resisted, per CNN.
One of Tuberville’s strongest supporters on the blockade is Lee, who has voiced opposition to the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy.
“The sole purpose of this policy is to try to find an all too cute, way too tricky route around what federal law requires flatly and consistent with the spirit if not also the letter of the law,” Lee said on the senate floor.
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Tuberville said this turn of events shows how serious his opposition is to the Pentagon policy. “They finally figured out I wasn’t going to give in. I’m still not,” Tuberville told The New York Times on Wednesday, “They’ve got to do the right thing and move the policy back.”
“Let’s do one at a time or change the policy back,” Tuberville said, per USA Today. “Let’s vote on it.”
White House spokesperson John F. Kirby reportedly praised Schumer’s move to confirm the three generals and also said it, “doesn’t fix the problem or provide a path forward for the 316 other general and flag officers that are held up by this ridiculous hold.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed Tuberville’s blockade was a danger to national security. “Sen. Tuberville’s continued hold on hundreds of our nation’s military leaders endangers our national security and military readiness,” he said in a statement.
Lee responded to Austin’s comments about the blockade on social media.
“Apparently @SecDef thinks it imperils national security to NOT fund abortion travel with DOD funds. And yet DOD never funded abortion travel until six months ago. Was America unsafe then — and at every moment in U.S. history leading up to six months ago?” he said on X.
On the Senate floor on Wednesday, Schumer said Tuberville is “desperate to shift the responsibility onto others. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the senior senator from Alabama,” according to the Times.
Tuberville responded to the critique by pointing out the Senate could still confirm nominations. “If Democrats want to complain, they should look in the mirror. I don’t control the floor; the Democrats do,” Tuberville said, per the Times.
Contributing: Suzanne Bates
