Why Sen. Tommy Tuberville finally dropped his military promotions blockade
The Alabama senator had been blocking the advancement of senior officers for 10 months, despite growing political blowback


The Senate approved about 425 military promotions Tuesday night after Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) abruptly dropped his 10-month-long blanket hold on elevating high-ranking nominees. "We didn't get the win that we wanted," Tuberville said after a Senate Republican lunch. "We got all we could get."
Tuberville had been blocking military promotions since February in a bid to force the Pentagon to change its policy of giving military personnel time off and travel expenses if they needed to go out of state for abortion services or some fertility treatments.
"In the end, this was all pointless," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "Sen. Tuberville, and the Republicans who stood with him, needlessly hurt hundreds of service members and military families and threatened our national security — all to push a partisan agenda."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Tuberville refused to release his hold even as fellow Senate Republicans started openly criticizing his tactics and military leaders said he was disrupting the lives of promising officers and their families and harming military readiness. "Behind closed doors, Republicans have complained that Tuberville's blockade was hurting them politically as well, given the harm to the military and the focus on abortion, which has been a losing issue at the polls," The Washington Post reported.
What got Tuberville to finally relent, he said, was a push by Senate Democrats to breach his blockade with a resolution that would allow confirming large groups of military nominees at one time for the remainder of the term. Tuberville said after his lunch with GOP colleagues that "all of us are against a rule change in the Senate."
The resolution "had the Republican votes necessary to pass," the Post reported, though The Wall Street Journal said it's "unknown" if nine Republicans were on board. Either way, the Democrats' workaround "was key to moving Tuberville — even if it won't receive a floor vote," Politico reported. "The threat, in the end, was enough."
"I am glad this pointless and gravely damaging ordeal has finally, finally ended," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said after the promotions were approved. "The senior senator from Alabama has nothing to show for his 10 months of delay … except for the damage he did to our military readiness and the pain he caused to military families." Schumer is expected to hold time-consuming individual votes for the 11 four-star nominees Tuberville is still blocking.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
3 varied alternatives to X for when you simply cannot with the new iteration of Twitter
The Explainer These competing microblogging sites have struggled to catch up to Elon Musk's market behemoth
-
Google's new AI Mode feature hints at the next era of search
In the Spotlight The search giant is going all in on AI, much to the chagrin of the rest of the web
-
Strike a pose at these 7 fashionable hotels
The Week Recommends Make these hotels in Macau, Italy and Washington, D.C., your personal runway
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders
-
Medicaid: Will millions lose coverage?
Feature House Republicans have proposed a plan to cut Medicaid coverage for millions to help fund the GOP's tax cuts
-
The military: Hegseth's escalating culture war
Feature The Pentagon is ordering military academies to purge their libraries of books on race, gender, and discrimination
-
A running list of Trump's conflicts of interest
In Depth A potential Qatari plane is the latest in a series of problematic connections
-
Democrats grapple with Biden cover-up fallout ahead of 2028
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Even before his cancer diagnosis, Dems have been grappling with whether the White House's alleged effort to hide Biden's failing health is worth relitigating
-
Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer
speed read The diagnosis hits close to home, as the former president 'dedicated much of his later career to cancer research'
-
Is Trump trying to take over Congress?
Talking Points Separation of powers at stake in Library of Congress fight
-
Why do GOP lawmakers want to ban state-level AI regulation?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION House Republicans are pushing to block states from making their own AI laws for the next ten years, even as expert warn the results could be disastrous.