1 year ago
The Senate is closing in on a vote to confirm the Marine Corps' second ranking officer after the service’s leader was hospitalized over the weekend, leaving a leadership vacuum at the top of the Corps.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is also set to tee up votes on President Joe Biden's picks to serve as the top officers in the Air Force and Navy. The confirmation votes could take place as soon as Wednesday if senators strike a deal to speed up the process.
Schumer told Democratic senators at their party lunch that he plans to file cloture on the three nominees on Tuesday night, according to a person familiar with the Senate state of play who was granted anonymity to describe the closed-door deliberations.
The trio of senior nominees is caught up in Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Ala.) blockade of hundreds of military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy.
The move by Schumer would head off maneuvering by Republican senators to force votes on the nominees themselves.
Tuberville is pushing for a vote to confirm Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, a day after it was announced that Commandant Gen. Eric Smith was hospitalized on Sunday. The New York Times reported that Smith had an apparent heart attack while jogging, though the service has declined to go into specifics.
The Alabama Republican is receiving renewed criticism over his hold after the Marines tapped a three-star general to take over for Smith, while the assistant commandant position is also vacant. Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) speculated that Smith's need to perform two jobs amid the hold may have contributed to his medical emergency.
Reed said Smith's condition demonstrates "how destructive these holds are."
Tuberville isn't the only Republican aiming to force action on senior picks.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) has been circulating cloture petitions in recent weeks to force votes on Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Gen. David Allvin, the nominees to lead the Navy and Air Force, respectively.
If Schumer follows through, it will be just the second time during the monthslong hold that the Democratic leader has allowed standalone votes on military promotions. Schumer has long resisted efforts to hold individual votes, noting that it would eat up hundreds of hours of floor time. Instead he has put the onus on Republicans to intervene.
A similar move by Tuberville last month forced Schumer's hand on three top nominees. The Senate confirmed Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Smith in separate votes.
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