What did Tuberville’s military hold mean for service members and families? 3 things to know
A 10-month blockade on 447 military promotions initiated by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., in 2023 disrupted the flow of leadership and upended some military families’ lives but did not harm readiness, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.
Former defense secretaries and officials warned that the hold risked national security. The Government Accountability Office found that the warnings were unsubstantiated, according to a recent report. The report found that the blockade did not stop military units from completing missions.
The Department of Defense measures unit-level readiness through personnel, equipment, supply, and training.
“Effects on military families varied based on individual circumstances. DOD officials cited military families’ inability to move to planned duty stations, enroll children at their next schools on time, and seek new spousal employment opportunities as financial and personal challenges stemming from the hold,” the report states.
“At the military unit level, our analysis did not find challenges to readiness—the ability to meet missions—from the 2023 GFO nomination blanket hold.”
Tuberville lifted his hold after nearly a year, without any concessions by the Pentagon.
In a statement, Tuberville said a Government Accountability Office report confirmed his longstanding position that his hold on nominations had “zero” effect on readiness.
“If the Biden administration was actually concerned about readiness, they would have reversed the policy and I would have immediately dropped the holds,” Tuberville said. “But they didn’t because they care more about taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand than they care about our troops.”
Why was there a military hold?
On two occasions in 2020 and 2023, all nominations for officers were on a blanket hold from Senate confirmation.
While the 2020 blanket hold was in effect for about 2 weeks, the 2023 hold lasted for nearly a year.
From March to Dec. 2023, Senator Tommy Tuberville implemented a hold on military promotions in the Senate because of his opposition to a Pentagon policy that provided travel funds for service members and dependents who needed to travel out of state to obtain abortions.
This meant that the Senate could not approve nominations of military officers for promotion.
The hold disrupted the military promotion cycle for some officers, which affected nominated officers’ eligibility for promotions and pay.
After months of delay, 11 four-star level military promotions were approved by the Senate in Dec. 2023, NPR reported.
The 11 promotions affected included the commanders of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pacific Air Forces, Air Combat Command, U.S. Northern Command, Cyber Command and Space Command, according to the Pentagon.
What were the effects of the hold?
The Government Accountability Office found the effect of the hold varied based on individual circumstances.
Some families experienced a limited impact while others were unable to move to planned duty stations, enroll children in schools on time and start new spousal jobs.
The nomination blockade interrupted the military promotion cycle and pay for officers. Some missed out on several months of pay raises ranging from $350 to $2,106 per month.
The report describes a series of cascading effects from Tuberville’s blockade, particularly on military families.
The Marine Corps, for example, had to cancel a general officer’s planned move because the officer was needed to fill a position for which the nomination was on hold. The officer’s household goods had already been sent to their future duty station.
Another Marine Corps officer was unable to enroll their child in a new school.
Some Air Force general officers sold their homes, lived in temporary housing and paid for storage out of their own pocket.
One Space Force general officer was geographically separated from his spouse for multiple months while his retirement was deferred because his replacement’s nomination was on hold.
“Further, officers with elderly parents, family members with medical conditions, school-age children, and spouses with employment opportunities faced hardships due to the instability as a result of the hold,” the report stated.
The Department of Defense mitigated potential operational effects of the 2023 hold by proceeding with planned assignments for some officers, deferring retirements and having senior civilian executives and officers serve in acting capacities to ensure continuity of operations.
“A DOD official from the office that oversees the strategic and operational readiness of the services also told us that the readiness data did not show an impact on unit readiness stemming from the 2023 hold. According to this official, this office constantly monitors readiness,” the report states.
How did officials respond to the hold?
The military hold received criticism from politicians on both sides of the aisle, over concerns that it damaged military readiness.
Trent Lott, a former Republican Senator from Mississippi, and Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senator from South Dakota each denounced the military holds after they were asked to weigh in during a question-and-answer session before a group of students at the University of South Alabama.
“I’m from Pascagoula and I feel strongly about the military,” said Lott, who served in the Senate from 1989-2007, and was the upper chamber’s Majority and Minority Leader in the early 2000s. “It’s not a good idea to hold up these nominations, quite frankly.”
Daschle, who served in the Senate from 1987-2005, and was also either Majority or Minority Leader from 2001-2005, called the situation “very short-sighted and problematic for democracy.”
“We got a war in Ukraine and a war in the Middle East,” Daschle said. “We’ve got issues in the last couple of days in the Philippines and China. There is so much need for military leadership now at the highest levels in how to address all of this.”
Tuberville is expected to announce his candidacy for Alabama governor next week.
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