Senate Rules Committee Takes On Tommy Tuberville’s Military Holds Transcript

Good afternoon everyone. Recognizing a quorum, I call to order the meeting of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to consider S.Res.444 providing for the En Bloc consideration of military nominations. I think the military friends and families who are here, some of them with loved ones who are waiting their own decision and promotion. As I thought about this and prepared for this, this weekend like many of my colleagues I was at veterans events and there was one in particular in a high school gym in Red Wing, Minnesota. Which featured hundreds of kids in the bleachers and veterans, including four World War II veterans on the floor of the gym and the speaker was an Iraq veteran who was really incredible. And she told the story of her life how she had grown up with a single mom in a very difficult circumstance and that it was the army that saved her. And she said as she got through that time, as she spoke to the high school students.

(01:13)
She said she remembered words from the movie Heartbreak Ridge that actually had become an unofficial slogan of the Marine Corps and it kept everything, every obstacle that she encountered in life. She remembered these three words and I thought about it with what we’re doing today and the words are improvise, adapt and overcome. Improvise, adapt, and overcome, and simply that’s what we’re doing here. We have come up with a narrow focused solution. We have improvised, we are adapting to our circumstance and we will eventually overcome and the first part of overcoming is to actually get this resolution through this committee today. I want to thank Ranking Member Fischer and our colleagues for being here, and I want to thank Senator Reid for his work on this resolution, the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, as well as Senator Sinema. I’d like to thank Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell. This is the only committee that both leaders serve on what can go wrong? And I want to thank them for being here and again to recognize the many members of the audience from military families who took time out of their day to be with us.

(02:31)
Here with us are spouses and family members of service members. We are here today because one of our colleagues has used the Senate’s rules to hold the entire military chain of command hostage. Here’s our problem. Right now we have over 350 military positions in limbo because of Senator Tuberville’s hold and nearly 650 military leadership positions will be vacant by the year’s end if this continues. This massive hold is hurting our military readiness and our national security. It’s hurting the morale of our troops and it’s causing major disruptions in the lives of our military families who have already sacrificed so much. No one knows that better than those who are joining us today. Military spouses can’t look for jobs if they don’t know where they’re going to move, kids don’t know where they’ll be attending school. Military officers can’t take care of their aging parents or figure out where they should be in an assisted living if they don’t know where they’re going to live.

(03:40)
One army general officer is having to pay 10,000 a month to keep his mom in an assisted living facility while he waits to find out if they’re going to move to a new house or not. A naval officer’s wife left her job as a public school teacher because they’re expecting a new assignment overseas and now she’s unemployed because she can’t take a job in the new place or return to her old school, instead she simply waits. The Marine Corps had to cancel a coast to coast move for a senior officer and his family. Their belongings had already been shipped, but now they’re in storage while the officer covers for another unfilled and more senior role. And yes, as we all know the commandant of the Marine Corps had a heart attack while holding down the number one and number two positions with the Marines. I’m a former prosecutor I believe in evidence, I don’t know how much more evidence we need to move on this.

(04:40)
And while this colossal hold, which is truly an antiseptic word to describe what is essentially a blockade is creating real cause for our military families. It’s also creating real risks to our military readiness and our national security. Senator Tuberville, is holding up the commander of Cybercom at a time when threats to our national security don’t always involve traditional weapons of war. He is holding up the head of the Pacific Air Command while China is saber-rattling in North Korea sent Russia a million artillery shells and he is holding up the commander of the Fifth Fleet which oversees our naval forces in the Persian Gulf. There are hundreds of others waiting, and the uncertainty is having a devastating impact. Our country deserves better, our military deserves better. The world is watching. For months Senator Tuberville has not listened to his Democratic or his Republican colleagues, and many of them has now spoken out on the Senate floor. He’s not listening to those who run our military, he is not listening to former military officials. So we need to stand up for our military and our national security and allow these promotions to move forward.

(05:58)
Because when our troops are on the battlefield they don’t ask if their commander is a Democrat or a Republican. They don’t ask what their views are on certain issues that they may not agree with, they just do their jobs. They don’t ask if the person next to them voted for and who they voted for and whether they hold a certain political position. Regardless of our own political views, we need to do what it takes to make sure our military has its leaders in place to protect our country. I get back to my first three words that I learned in that high school gym, improvise, adapt, and overcome. That is what this policy is about, it is temporary and it makes a change simply for the nominations in the military that are before us through the end of the Congress. It has supportive groups representing our service members and their families. Blue Star Families, the National Military Family Association and the Secure Family Initiative, and the American Legion has also urged a bipartisan resolution as well.

(07:06)
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting it, and I now recognize Senator Fischer for an opening statement.

Thank you, Chairman Klobuchar and I thank you for holding this markup today. The resolution before us today is an anomaly, it is unusual for the Senate to take upstanding orders that temporarily create new Senate procedures. In fact, in recent decades the Senate has only taken up and passed three such measures. Two of those resolutions were the power-sharing agreements for an evenly divided Senate for the 107th and the 117th Congresses. The third resolution from the 113th Congress was a carefully negotiated bipartisan agreement that reduced the post cloture debate times for certain nominations in response to concerns about delays in processing nominations. I would note that even though the resolution passed with a large bipartisan majority it didn’t stop then majority leader, Harry Reid, from deploying the nuclear option 11 months later. It is with that history in mind that we turn to Senate Resolution 444. Certainly parallels can be drawn between the resolution before us today and previous resolutions.

(08:38)
They all create a temporary process that only applies to the current Congress for example. The previous three resolutions however were all created in a bipartisan fashion and passed by unanimous consent or with broad bipartisan support. This resolution in contrast is a political maneuver that does not have the same support. At its core the resolution is an attempt to protect the Biden administration’s poor policy decisions. Though federal law prohibits the Department of Defense from using federal funds for abortions, except in very limited circumstances. The Department of Defense has put in place a policy that facilitates abortions by paying for travel across state lines to obtain one. This policy not only goes beyond the Department of Defense’s statutory authority, it doesn’t do anything to increase our military readiness and hasn’t even been broadly utilized. Unofficial reports indicated likely has been used by only 12 women, even so this administration refuses to eliminate

… eliminate the policy. What we need right now is to come together and tell the administration to stop violating the law and revoke this policy. If the policy is revoked, the resolution before us today is not necessary. This resolution undermines the Senate’s longstanding tradition of rights for the minority party. With few exceptions, it would take away the right of a single senator or 10 or 20 or 40 senators to object to a military nomination or promotion that is being offered for unanimous consent. It would allow a simple majority to override those objections. The ability of senators to demand a vote of the full Senate on a particular nomination or promotion is an important check on the executive branch. This is especially true in this case where the administration is refusing to revoke a little used and unlawful policy. As a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I understand very well the impacts that these nominations and promotions have on our military forces and our military readiness. So let me be clear, I support moving military nominations and promotions quickly, and I am committed to working with my colleagues to find a path forward, but I will not support this effort to alter Senate process that undermines the longstanding traditions of the Senate.

Leader Schu-

I hope my colleagues will join me in opposing this resolution. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much, Senator Fischer. Leader Schumer.

Thank you. And I wish we didn’t have to be here this afternoon, and yet we are here today nonetheless, because for the last nine months, one member of the Senate, one member, senior senator from Alabama, has defied longstanding Senate custom and prevented the swift bipartisan confirmation of hundreds of generals and flag officers. Senator Schumer said this resolution is an anomaly, but what Senator Tuberville has done is truly an anomaly that does much harm, and requires a response. Every single one of us here, not just Senator Tuberville, has issues we feel totally passionate about, that we feel are morally right.

(12:54)
If every one of us had the temerity, the recklessness to do what Senator Tuberville has done, we’d have no military. All our national security would vanish. So we’re here today to consider a resolution brought by Senator Reed that would allow for the swift confirmation of these military nominees that Senator Tuberville has placed on hold. I thank the committee for their work on this resolution, especially Chair Klobuchar, Senator Reed as well. And I will vote in favor of it today if it is reported out of committee. And if my Republican colleagues can’t convince Senator Tuberville to relent, I will bring it to the floor shortly for a vote.

(13:40)
We need to get these military nominees confirmed ASAP for the sake of our national security. Military nominees for a decade have been the most bipartisan parts of the Senate. The idea of blocking the confirmation of military officers in order to make a political statement, no matter how deeply felt, has long been considered unthinkable. There’s been a lot of negativity and dysfunction in the Senate these days, but Senator Tuberville has single-handedly brought the Senate to a new low. For months, members in both sides have reached out to Senator Tuberville to try and find a compromise. Senior defense officials have tried to get our colleague to stand down.

(14:31)
Seven former secretaries of defense who served presidents from both Democratic and Republican parties have spoken out against these holds. And at each overture, what is Senator Tuberville’s response? He digs in. He has claimed that he simply wanted to vote on these nominees, but he’s even objected to up or down votes on the Senate floor. Our colleague from Alabama has made clear he will not budge. Every day, the senator from Alabama continues his blockade of military promotions. America’s national security pays a heavy price, a heavy price, at a time when we’re all talking about our national security.

(15:21)
Military families, spouses who need to start new jobs, children who need to start new schools, who come from families whose spouse has been in the military for decades and has already sacrificed a lot are asking to be made an unusual sacrifice, though they have done nothing wrong. And our military readiness pays the price. As has been mentioned, the hold includes the commander, the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, the Deputy commander, the US Central Command, both ital for our operations in the Middle East. And sadly, it is likely the worst is yet to come. The worst is yet to come if Senator Tuberville is allowed to continue this reckless policy because up to three quarters of the generals and admirals in the Defense Department will be affected by Senator Tuberville’s actions.

(16:15)
Let me say that again. Three quarters of the generals and admirals in DOD will be affected by Senator Tuberville’s actions, three quarters. Patience is wearing thin on both sides of the aisle. Democrat and Republican alike want these holds to end. So today, I commend members of the Rules Committee for advancing this resolution. Bipartisanship has long been a hallmark of military confirmations. It’s essential that it stays that way because the last thing we want is the permanent politicizing of our generals, our flag officers, of the people whose sworn duty it is to keep our nation safe. So for the sake of our national security, for the sake of our military readiness, for the sake of our military families who have already sacrificed so much, I urge the Rules Committee to act for the sake of preserving the Senate’s long tradition, respected by thousands, I’d say, of Senators on both sides of the aisle.

(17:24)
I urge the Rules Committee to act for the sake of our military families, for the spouses, the kids. I urge the Committee to act. With your help, my colleagues, right now, we can begin to end this awful impasse, which none of us like. We can confirm these hundreds of nominees, we can finally do right by the brave Americans who have dedicated their entire adult lives to keeping us safe. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Leader Schumer. Ranking Leader McConnell, thank you for being here.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and Ranking Member Fischer. I’d like to begin with the prime mover in this situation, an administration policy I strongly oppose was designed to force American taxpayers to violate their rights of conscience. The Department of Defense is in the business of raising, equipping, training, and maintaining the strongest fighting forces in the world. Inserting our military into the center of a politically divisive subject isn’t just an ill-advised policy choice, it’s actually dangerous. But as I’ve said for months now, our colleague from Alabama’s response is not the way to reach the desired outcome he and I share. In fact, it’s created a nearly unprecedented situation for the Senate to address.

(19:05)
As a general rule, when a president takes an executive action that a minority in Congress thinks is unlawful, you challenge it in the courts and then when the time comes, you elect a different president. The Senate, for our part, also has the power to hold the nomination of a civilian Biden administration official to a role with actual responsibility for the objectionable policy. Unfortunately, our colleague has chosen instead to exert his leverage on career military officers with no influence over this administration’s policy priorities. Right now, these holds affect 370 active duty positions. By the end of the year, if this situation

Is left unaddressed, it will impact 90% of our senior most military commanders. So Madam Chair, any one of us can talk for days about the growing challenges we’re facing around the world, but none of it is worth a dime if we can’t put experienced commanders in command in a timely manner. So I’m grateful to a number of our colleagues on both sides who propose plausible solutions to the situation. Ultimately, the best path forward for everyone involved will be one that allows us to clear the nomination’s backlog and preserve our substantive opposition to the Biden administration’s atrocious policy. Productive discussions on that front are ongoing and I’m of the mind that we ought to allow them to continue. So I appreciate the work put into the standing order proposal that the committee is considering, but I’m going to oppose taking that route at this particular moment.

Thank you. Senator McConnell. With opening statements now being concluded, I think we’re going to allow people… There’s several members that want to speak and we’re going to do it after the vote. So I urge people to stay because I think people, including we have Senator Warner here, the chair of the Intel Committee, and several others have some really important opinions that they want to offer. But with everyone here, I think it’s a good time to go to the vote. The committee will now proceed to consideration of S/RES/444 providing for the end block consideration of military nominations. The resolution, which is a standing order for this Congress only, allows nominations favorably approved by the Armed Services Committee to be voted on as a group on the Senate floor with some exceptions. And that would be for the eight members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and 11 commanders of a combatant command. Since no amendments were filed by yesterday’s deadline, we will now proceed to the resolution. The question is on reporting S/RES/444, providing for the N block consideration of military nominations favorably to the Senate. The clerk will call the role.

Senator Schumer.

Aye.

Senator Warner.

Aye.

Senator Merkley.

Aye.

Senator Padilla.

Aye.

Senator Ossoff.

Aye.

Senator Bennet.

[inaudible 00:22:55].

Senator Welch.

Aye.

Senator Butler.

Aye.

Senator Fischer.

No.

Senator McConnell.

No.

Senator Cruz.

No, by proxy.

Senator Capito.

No.

Senator Wicker.

No.

Senator Hyde-Smith.

No.

Senator Hagerty.

No.

Senator Britt.

[inaudible 00:23:21].

The eyes are eight, the noes are seven.

I’m also an aye.

Senator Klobuchar. The eyes are nine. The noes are seven.

Okay, very good. The resolution will be favorably reported. I will note that what this means is that Senator Schumer will be able to call this resolution up to the floor for a vote. And as you are all aware, there are a number of senators on both sides of the aisle. A number of Republican senators who’ve been very… I will say loud about wanting to change this policy and wanting to do something as Senator McConnell just pointed out to get these nominations through. We believe this is the most sensible way to do it because it is a temporary policy and I want people to have hope that we are going to get this done. And this is the first step in this process to get these promotions through.

Madam Chair.

Yes.

I had counted eight no votes. Did the proxy not count?

The proxy? I believe… Yeah, the proxy doesn’t count for the final vote. That’s why we had all our people here.

Thank you.

Yes.

Proxy only counts for recording the senator’s position.

Okay, I’m going to… Do you want us to adjourn and then have the speeches or can we continue on?

[inaudible 00:25:06].

Okay. I think we’re not going to adjourn yet because we really want to listen to some of the other senator’s viewpoints. And with that, I turn it over to Senator Warner.

Madam Chair, don’t want my colleagues to all rush before they hear my brilliant-

Senator Fischer and I are raptly listening, Senator Warner.

I’m not going to speak for a long time. I hope folks will listen on this though. I spend almost all my time now in skiffs, which are [inaudible 00:25:41] as chairman of the Intelligence Committee. And I just got to tell you, a lot of folks are asking what’s happening in the United States of America? What’s happening when we don’t have a speaker of the house for weeks on end? What’s happening when some away walk away from our commitment to Ukraine? Does that mean you can not trust America anymore when they make commitments, particularly with organizations like NATO and when clearly their adversaries like Russia, which have acted so abhorrently?

(26:17)
A lot of folks are asking, what is America’s role going to be to try to navigate through the turmoil in the Middle East? And a lot of folks are asking what next going on when America’s military leadership can’t get the promotions that they’ve earned? I don’t think most folks are going to ask what was a precedent or not a precedent or what some obscure senate rule or the other, but I just believe this is one other example where we’ve got to get our act together, do the right thing, not just for military families, for military readiness, but just for the long-term sake of how our nation is viewed at this most critical time in history. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much, Senator Warner. And I will note as I turn to another of our colleagues that asked to give some remarks. The most important people in the room are still here. And that is our military families that stay to listen to you and those who have friends and loved ones who are waiting appointments. So Senator Ossoff.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for your leadership. I want to begin by thanking all of the military spouses, military families, active duty service members, veterans who are with us today. This is a national security crisis, to have hundreds of general officers whose promotions cannot be confirmed with impacts on our military readiness that cascade down through the chain of command and impact officers at all levels. This impacts the readiness of some of the most important units deployed around the world, strategic facilities at a moment of great peril and global instability. And so the step that we’ve taken today, to empower the Senate, finally to confirm the promotions of hundreds of deserving career military officers, apolitical public servants who are sworn to defend the United States and all of its people, regardless of politics, is critically important to my constituents in Georgia, to U.S. national security and to our reputation in the world. So I’m glad that we’ve taken this step. Madam Chair, I appreciate your leadership and most of all, I appreciate all of you who are here in the audience today, showing your support for sound governance and US national security free of irresponsible and abusive political interference.

Thank you. Senator Merkley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I’m reflecting on the two years I spent working for Secretary Weinberger in the Pentagon and all of… So many of my colleagues in the Pentagon at that time, many of them had been in the Vietnam War. They were of course, very dedicated to the national security of our country. Never in my wildest dream what I have anticipated that senators in this body would vote to hold as hostage the families of our military personnel. Everyone who’s a member of a military family, could you raise your hand? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for coming. And I think our chairwoman really delineated all of the hardships that are imposed on families, on the spouses, on

On the children, where will people go to school? Where will you live? Just a huge set of uncertainties that accompany this nine month delay. I heard the argument that somehow this resolution undermines a Senate tradition. The Senate tradition is to, by unanimous consent, consider, unblock, and approve the military promotions, going back to our earliest times. If there is a violation of Senate tradition, it is the violation of holding hostage our military families and denying the national security needs of our nation by doing so, as well. I can’t speak more passionately about how wrong this is. It is a symptom of a broader paralysis in the Senate. We’re witnessing now so many elements of the Senate code. The Senate code was you listen to everybody in room and then you vote. You don’t hold everything hostage to a super majority. You don’t proceed to have one person hold everything up. There were moments when one person could hold something up by holding the floor continuously.

(31:24)
Well, my colleague wants to speak continuously until he collapses in this wall of the Senate, and then we can get on with this vote. I’d be just fine with that. But this nine month determination to undermine our national security, damage our military families, is beyond unacceptable. I’m pleased that the committee today has taken action. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Very good. Senator Fischer, did you want to add anything more? Okay. Thank you very much, Senator Merkley. And thank you for reminding us of those Senate rules and how over the years as a student of those rules, I know Senator Merkley, you know how many times there’ve been changes to the rules, sometimes temporary, sometimes permanent.

Madam Chair, I’m thinking about this last weekend, veterans Weekend, where so often members of this body will give a speech and it will go something along the lines of our military families as well as our military service members have stood up for our nation. We have to stand up for them. Well, this is the way you stand up for them is you resolve this unacceptable impasse. That’s the concrete commitment. Flowery words don’t get the job done.

Okay. Very good. A few things I want to just clarify and then we’re going to bring this to an end. What this policy is about, this DOD policy is consistent with the law. The DODs policy change provides allowances for travel and transportation for service members and dependents to travel to the closest medical facility if they need abortion or fertility care that they cannot access. And this has been a policy that is, again, under the law and the Department of Defense has not changed its policy on providing abortion access. It’s simply allowing for the travel, which is allowed for in other instances where someone, and I know military families are nodding their heads, can’t get access where they are stationed for some reason to some kind of healthcare. And that’s simply what this is about. And then the second thing I wanted to note is someone says, “Well, why don’t we just change the policy?”

(33:50)
Well, and I think you’ve heard from my colleagues here, if we start doing that … Okay, I really want to get the Afghan Adjustment Act done. It’s a bill actually have with Senator Lindsey Graham to be able to get those that were promised a life here in this country after they put their lives on the line for our soldiers, I’d like to get them out of that limbo and get that passed. Now, am I going to hold up every military promotion to do that? No. I would like to really get my legislation, again bipartisan, on some of the exposures that kids have to tech with fentanyl and all these things that are happening. But we find ways to get this done and this is not one of them. So that is why we have found this, what I would consider elegant solution that Senator Reed, who like myself, has a habit of working across the aisle and trying to find solutions, that’s what this is.

(34:48)
And the final vote, just to clarify a lot of questions about proxies and the like, the final vote was nine to seven. So for those of us that want to keep this moving and to stop our chain of command from being held hostage, this is a victory because it is the first step to getting this done. Now we go to the floor, and one of the reasons it was important to do this at this time is a number of our Republican colleagues are speaking out, not just behind closed door, but on the floor. So it is our hope that once we get there, we get, I think we need nine votes in addition to the Democratic votes to advance this policy. And it was that spirit that I will adjourn this hearing and this markup. And I want to thank Senator Fischer and thank all of our colleagues who came today. I thank them also for not throwing a bunch of amendments on this. At least it’ll allow us on the floor to debate this and make any changes necessary to get this done. So with that, the meeting is adjourned. Thank you.