Senate overcomes Tuberville hold, confirms final Joint Chief nominees

The Senate overwhelmingly voted to confirm Adm. Lisa Franchetti to be the first woman to lead the Navy and Gen. David Allvid to lead the Air Force.

Both Adm. Franchetti, who had been serving as the vice chief of naval operations and the acting chief of naval operations, and Gen. Allvid were confirmed by a 95-1 vote on Thursday. The vote occurred in spite of Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) ongoing hold-up of military promotions and nominations due to a Pentagon policy regarding reproductive healthcare.

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Franchetti had been serving in an acting capacity as chief of naval operations since mid-August due to Tuberville’s hold, while Allvin had been serving as acting chief of staff of the Air Force in addition to vice chief of staff for weeks. The debate over the Alabama senator’s protest, which has held up more than 300 nominations and promotions, has restarted this week following Gen. Eric Smith’s heart attack.

Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, deputy commandant for combat development and integration and commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, is currently serving as acting commandant of the Marine Corps for the interim because the Senate had not confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the next assistant commandant.

Due to a series of votes that the Senate was able to hold in September for other top military positions, in addition to Thursday’s votes, the Joint Chiefs of Staff has no vacancies among them anymore. In recent months, each of the service branches had their top leader’s terms end, while Tuberville’s hold had prevented their successors’ confirmation.

Senate Republicans have largely been supportive of Tuberville’s protest, though some were critical of him on the Senate floor on Wednesday evening in what became the most criticism from his own party that he’s faced on the subject yet.

Across four-plus hours, a group of Republican defense hawks, led by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK), brought up 61 nominees for voice votes, only for Tuberville to block each one.

“We have done the best we can to honor the request of a fellow senator that these nominations be brought to the floor and voted on individually,” Ernst said. “I really respect men of their word. I do not respect men who do not honor their word.”

The Senate also voted to confirm Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney’s nomination to be the assistant commandant of the Marines on Thursday.

“I am glad the Senate has today confirmed Adm. Lisa Franchetti as Chief of Naval Operations, Gen. David Allvin as Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Lt. Gen. Chris Mahoney as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “They are outstanding leaders who have faithfully served their country for decades, and I know they will continue to be great leaders of our force as they continue to tackle the crucial national security issues of these challenging times.”

Tuberville’s protest is over a Pentagon policy that came out in response to the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. Under the policy, the department would reimburse the travel expenses incurred for a service member or dependent who would have to travel out-of-state to receive a reproductive healthcare procedure that would not be legal in their home state, such as an abortion.

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The Pentagon argues the policy is a way to ensure every service member has access to the same healthcare, and the Department of Justice has ruled that the policy does not violate any federal guidelines, while Tuberville believes the opposite is true. Tuberville’s protest, which is to block the Senate’s ability to pass military nominations

In September, the Senate navigated around Tuberville’s hold to confirm three members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Senate voted individually on Gen. Charles Q. Brown to be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Randy George to be the chief of staff of the Army, and Gen. Eric Smith to be the Marine Commandant.