Senate Confirms New Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman After Months-long GOP Blockade

The Senate confirmed Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday, briefly skirting a Republican senator’s blockade on senior military promotions.

Brown’s nomination was one of three the chamber began taking up Wednesday, the first sign of progress since Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., launched a blockade in February to protest a Pentagon abortion policy.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced earlier in the day that he had teed up votes on Brown’s nomination, as well as Gen. Randy George’s to be chief of staff of the Army and Gen. Eric Smith’s to be commandant of the Marine Corps.

The chamber will hold another procedural vote on George’s nomination later Wednesday before moving to confirm George and Smith to their posts Thursday.

The temporary breakthrough comes after Tuberville garnered enough support from his GOP colleagues to force a vote on Smith’s nomination to be commandant of the Marine Corps, but the Alabama Republican made clear Wednesday that his position has not changed.

“My hold is still in place,” Tuberville said in a floor speech. “The hold will remain in place as long as the Pentagon’s illegal abortion policy remains in place. If the Pentagon lifts the policy, then I will lift my hold. It’s as easy as that.”

For months, as the number of stalled military promotions ballooned to more than 300, Schumer had resisted approving nominees on an individual basis, arguing that Tuberville’s unprecedented holds were a Republican Party problem that should be settled by the GOP Conference. Military promotions traditionally are non-controversial and bipartisan.

Some Democrats had argued that it would set a bad precedent to take up nominations individually, in addition to eating up months of valuable floor time. Others argued that it would be wrong to confirm the top brass while allowing lower-level nominees to languish. Yet the Senate appears to be doing just that.

“It’s about time,” said Tuberville, who tried to turn the table on Democrats, blasting Schumer’s leadership abilities and Democrats’ refusal to move on nominations for months. He later told reporters that his move to force a vote “embarrassed” Schumer.

Brown, the first nominee to be confirmed since the blockade began, is set to replace retiring Gen. Mark Milley, whose term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expires Oct. 1. 

In interviews, Senate Republicans said Democrats should’ve taken this step months ago, but they were split on whether Tuberville “won” by forcing Democrats to hold the votes while Tuberville maintained his opposition to the abortion policy. Tuberville himself framed the votes as a win for the legislative branch of government.

“I think he won on the exchange,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told The Messenger. “Basically he brought forward and called their bluff on it, and they agreed to a vote. They’ve been the one ginning this thing up.”

“I don’t know who wins on this,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told reporters. “Hopefully, the military wins, in terms of getting leadership.” 

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., laughed at the notion that Tuberville won. He conceded that the Senate is only moving to confirm the three nominees because Tuberville was poised to circumvent Senate Democrats — something Tuberville signaled is still on the table for future nominations — but insisted both sides gave in.

“There are small signals from both sides that we are trying to move forward, but, look, the reality is there’s still 300 flag rank officers being held,” Coons said, noting that the continued holds are hurting military readiness and harming military families who are unable to move to their new posts.

“There’s a lot of dissatisfaction with the posture that Senator Tuberville’s taken in his caucus and a desire to figure out a way to move forward,” Coons added. “God willing, those conversations will move forward in the next couple of days and we’ll find a way through this.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told The Messenger he was one of 17 Republicans who signed Tuberville’s cloture petition, which would’ve forced a procedural vote on the Marine Corps commandant. 

“The only reason these weren’t taken up months ago is because [Schumer] decided to play politics with it rather than schedule them for a vote,” he said.

In a floor speech announcing he had set up votes on the trio of promotions, Schumer said only “the most extreme elements of the Republican Party” believe Tuberville’s holds are a good idea. He added that Tuberville was becoming increasingly “desperate to get out of the box he has put himself in.”

“And now, in a further act of desperation, Senator Tuberville is seeking to use a procedural step to overcome his very own holds,” Schumer said. “Yes, you heard that right: Senator Tuberville is seeking to undo his own holds. The man who is holding everything up is trying to obfuscate things by playing this ruse on the floor.”

Schumer also warned his colleagues that Tuberville’s actions will have lasting consequences on the way the chamber operates. 

“I believe we will come to regret them,” he said. “But due to the extraordinary circumstances of Senator Tuberville’s reckless decisions, Democrats will take action. It’s not the path the vast majority of senators on either side of the aisle want to go down, but Senator Tuberville is forcing us to confront his obstruction head-on.”