Tommy Tuberville said in an interview on Wednesday he’s considering dropping his months-long holds on military promotions “soon, but not today.”
The Alabama GOP senator said he and other Armed Services Committee members are “getting close” to a resolution and will be holding more meetings on the subject later Wednesday with Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and other members of the panel.
“Trying to get some kind of resolution before we get home for Christmas, we’ve got a couple of weeks,” Tuberville said. “We’ve got to do this the right way. It’s been 10 months. I want to get this over with too, if we do it the right way.”
Tuberville told the Senate GOP this week that he will find a solution to his military holds over the Pentagon’s abortion policy in order to head off a vote that would circumvent his blockade, according to multiple sources.
Republicans said afterward they weren’t sure exactly what he will do to achieve that, though they’ve pitched shifting his holds to civilian nominees or supporting a lawsuit against the Pentagon.
One idea, proposed by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), would clear lower-level promotions while preserving Tuberville’s holds on four-star generals and requiring individual roll call votes, according to people familiar with the offer. Tuberville confirmed that Sullivan presented him with that proposal and he is working closely with his colleague on a path forward, but said he’s “not yet” ready to commit to one strategy and that it wouldn’t be exactly that solution.
“That’s his idea. But I’m the one that’s got the holds,” Tuberville said. “He’s got some good ideas.”
Sullivan said Wednesday that he was unsure where Tuberville would land but made clear yet again that he is tired of the impasse.
“I sat down with him on the way forward. I’ve been working Sen. Tuberville for a long time on this. But at a certain point? I’ve been 100 percent that someone needs to stand up for the troops,” Sullivan said on Wednesday. “No one’s speaking for them. I’m speaking for them.”
Republicans believe there are likely 60 votes to end-around Tuberville on the Senate floor by passing a resolution devised by Reed and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) that would allow the stalled military promotions to proceed en bloc, according to people familiar with party strategy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could force that vote in December if there’s no other agreement to get out of the impasse.
Joe Gould contributed to this report.
