Senate Approves More Than 400 Military Promotions

The Senate in a single stroke Tuesday approved about 425 military promotions after Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama ended a monthslong blockade of nominations over his opposition to a Pentagon abortion policy. Tuberville had been under pressure from members of both sides of the political aisle to end his holds as senators complained about the toll it was taking on service members and their families, and on military readiness. President Biden called the Senate's action long overdue and said the military confirmations should never have been held up, the AP reports.

"In the end, this was all pointless. Senator Tuberville, and the Republicans who stood with him, needlessly hurt hundreds of servicemembers and military families and threatened our national security—all to push a partisan agenda. I hope no one forgets what he did," Biden said in a statement released by the White House. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer teed up the military confirmations for a vote just a few hours after Tuberville emerged from a closed-door lunch with fellow GOP senators and told reporters he's "not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer." He said holds would continue, however, for about 11 of the highest-ranking military officers, those who would be promoted to what he described as the four-star level or above.

Senators had been preparing a resolution to get around the senator's blockade. Tuberville emerged from the meeting with GOP colleagues saying "all of us are against a rule change in the Senate." He was adamant that "we did the right thing for the unborn and for our military" by fighting back against executive overreach. He expressed no regrets, but admitted "we didn't get as much out of it as we wanted." Schumer said Tuberville ended up failing to get anything he wanted and held it out as a warning to others who might attempt similar efforts in the future to undo policies they oppose. "The senior senator from Alabama has nothing to show for his 10 months of delay. No law is changing in any way," Schumer said.

(More Tommy Tuberville stories.)