The Senate on Thursday teed up a final vote on the nomination of Adm. Lisa Franchetti to be chief of naval operations, the first in a series of votes aimed at filling crucial positions to lead the Navy, Air Force and Marines that have been blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).
The vote to end debate on Franchetti's nomination was 95-1.
Franchetti has been serving as chief of naval operations in an acting capacity since August because of Tuberville’s holds, which are in protest of a Defense Department abortion policy. She would be the first woman to officially lead the Navy.
The Senate is also slated to vote on Gen. David Allvin for Air Force chief of staff and Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney to be the assistant commandant of the Marines.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been willing to hold votes on just some of the most important nominees to overcome Tuberville, who is blocking hundreds of senior officers from a voice vote confirmation, a much faster process that has traditionally been used for military nominations.
The Senate in September confirmed Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Randy George as Army chief of staff and Gen. Eric Smith as Marine Corps commandant.
Tuberville has refused to drop his holds, which he began in February, until the Pentagon reverses its policy providing paid leave and travel cost reimbursement for servicemembers who cross state lines for an abortion. He has also pinned the blame on Schumer for not bringing the votes individually.
Thursday's votes come after a Wednesday evening showdown between several Republican senators and Tuberville, showing that patience in the GOP is growing thin on the issue.
Sens. Dan Sullivan (Ala.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) were among the furious lawmakers who for hours tried to bring individual nominees up for a vote on Wednesday, forcing Tuberville to object to each nominee.
The catalyst for the nominations this week appears to have been the hospitalization of Smith.
Tuberville’s office said it had “called Schumer’s bluff” after the Alabama senator announced plans to force a vote on Mahoney on Tuesday before Schumer the next day announced he would bring the three nominees to a vote.
“Schumer blinked and essentially admitted that he could have been getting these nominees confirmed this whole time,” Tuberville’s office wrote in a Wednesday email, arguing it could set a precedent for the GOP senator to force more votes.
When he announced the votes on Wednesday, Schumer said he felt compelled to take action after Smith was hospitalized.
Schumer also blasted Tuberville for his holds, saying the senator was playing politics with military nominees and “military appointments risk being further ensnared in partisan politics.”
