President Joe Biden’s nominee to become the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. Navy told the Senate on Thursday Senator Tommy Tuberville‘s holds on hundreds of promotions in the U.S. Armed Forces will have a lasting impact on America’s fighting forces for years to come.
“I think just at the three-star level it would take about three to four months to move all the people around but it will take years to recover from the promotion ...delays that we would see for years to come,” Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who currently serves as acting Chief of Naval Operations, told Senators on the Armed Services Committee during her confirmation hearing, as The Washington Examiner reported.
Admiral Franchetti’s estimate of “years” would be only after the hundreds of military promotions are actually confirmed. The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force warn resignations are likely to occur as a result of the Alabama Republican Senator’s holds, which have lasted more than six months.
Tuberville’s blockade of all military promotions requiring Senate confirmation begin in February, he says, in response to Pentagon policy of reimbursing travel expenses for service members who need to travel out of state to obtain abortion health care services after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
Admiral Franchetti was responding to a question from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who also said: “Our military experts project China wants to be able to take Taiwan by 2027 and we’ll still be trying to repair the damage inflicted by these holds.”
“The Republicans’ failure to end this blockade makes it clear they don’t care about us. They don’t care about families who have served their country honorably for decades. It’s hard to imagine a bigger propaganda win for our enemies. We need this hold to stop and we need it to stop now,” Sen. Warren added.
If confirmed, Franchetti would become the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) placed the blame for Tuberville’s blockade on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
“One person, Secretary Austin, come on, do the right thing,” Senator Cramer said at the end of his questioning of Admiral Franchetti, urging him to drop support for women requiring to travel to obtain health care.
On social media Senator Warren added, “Admiral Franchetti told me that it will take the U.S. Navy YEARS to recover from the obstruction by a Republican Senator blocking over 300 high level military promotions. It’s hard to imagine a bigger propaganda win for our enemies. We need this hold to stop NOW.”
In addition to claiming his holds are a response to Pentagon policy on reimbursing out of state travel, Tuberville has claimed they are to combat the “wokeness” of President Joe Biden’s military. He has also personally attacked individual officers, suggesting they should not be promoted. Tuberville attacked one military officer who “celebrated” for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.