How Sen. Sinema could finally snap Sen. Tuberville's stranglehold on military promotions

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, combat veteran and astronaut, has been among the harshest critics of Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville for holding up what now is more than 450 high-level military promotions.

Tuberville disapproves of a Pentagon policy that provides travel expenses for abortions when treatment isn’t available in a state where a service member is stationed.

On numerous occasions Kelly has publicly excoriated Tuberville.

He’s given TV interviews. He’s written op-eds, like one he did for Fox News in which Kelly said, “Tuberville is treating our service members and their families as political pawns … This leaves the most critical positions vacant or filled by acting personnel doing multiple jobs at once without the necessary experience and authority.”

When Tuberville, who never served in the military, said in Senate hearing that “there’s nobody more military up here than me,” Kelly lashed out.

He said, “As far as I can tell, there’s at least four of us, maybe more, that served in the United States military. In some cases, for decades, and at least three combat veterans. So I take great exception to what Senator Tuberville had to say. And I’ve heard him say it before and it just doesn’t make any sense.”

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Enter Kyrsten Sinema, the compromise broker

Kelly’s criticism is heartfelt, and it certainly pleases Democrats, but without the support of Republicans, Democrats like Kelly don’t have the votes to stop Tuberville.

Enter Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

Last week it was reported that a resolution was proposed that would temporarily change the Senate’s process and solve the Tuberville problem.

There are so many military nominees awaiting confirmation that confirming them one at a time would take months. The proposal would allow for nominees to be voted on all at once. But it requires the support of all Democrats and independents and at least nine Republicans.

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The proposal is the work of Democratic Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sinema, now an independent.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, however, told Politico the plan was Sinema’s “brainchild to figure out a way forward where we’re not blowing up the rules of the Senate.”

Stopping Tuberville takes both sides

Sinema is sticking to her philosophy of not ending the Senate filibuster rule, for which Democrats will never forgive her, since it scuttled attempts to protect abortion rights and voting rights.

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If there were 100 senators like her, we’d be a better country, because every legislative decision would have elements of compromise. Having only one senator like Sinema, however, means Republicans get to stifle anything Democrats propose and compromise only when it matches their goals.

Sinema’s resolution to break Tuberville’s stranglehold on our country’s military readiness has Tuberville showing signs of a willingness to find a solution. There’s no guarantee that will happen, which could lead to a vote on the resolution.

Sinema told Politico, “If we do have to do it, what’s the least disruptive thing we can do?”

The problem isn't necessarily Sinema

Behind the scenes, her plan is said to be gaining support, including from Kelly.

Speaking about Tuberville recently, Kelly said, “If he continues to refuse, it’s just too dangerous to wait for him to do the right thing. There is a proposal for the Senate to make a temporary change that will allow us to vote on the bulk of these nominees at once. It’s designed to put our national security ahead of all else by addressing the dangerous circumstance these holds have put our military in … .”

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I understand why Arizona Democrats want to replace Sinema with a more reliable follower of the party dogma, like Rep. Ruben Gallego. And why she won't get a lot of credit if her plan breaks the logjam created by Tuberville.

It might even lead some to condemn her, again, for not being willing to override Senate rules.

But it's important to recognize that the root problem is not that Sinema is the way she is.

It’s that there aren’t enough members of Congress like her.

EJ Montini is a columnist at The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com, where this column first published. Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tuberville's hold on military promotions could be ended by ... Sinema?