Senate Appoints General Charles Brown Jr. as Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Despite Obstruction from Anti-Abortion Senator

The Senate on Wednesday, September 20, appointed General Charles Brown Jr. to the highest rank in the American armed forces despite opposition for several months from an anti-abortion senator. A parliamentary obstruction that divides within the Republican Party.

Within a week, the American army found itself without a command. On the evening of Wednesday, September 20, the Senate confirmed at the last minute the nomination of General Charles Brown Jr. to the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest rank in the American armed forces and the principal military advisor to the President. An extremely late confirmation since his predecessor Mark Milley is due to retire in a few days. Blame it on the obstruction of the Republican senator from Alabama who is preventing the promotion of 300 high-ranking officers in the different branches of the army. Among them, the commands of the Army, the Marines and the US Navy, which have been operating in recent months without a leader. A first in the history of the country. The post of United States military representative to NATO, that of undersecretary of Defense, and the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, which coordinates forces in the Pacific Ocean, are also affected.

Obstruction of the functioning of the administration

Traditionally, the Senate votes on promotions of general officers and other military positions en bloc, requiring their approval, to avoid wasting time approving each position. However, since late February, these votes have been blocked by Tommy Tuberville, a pro-life senator who opposes the Defense Department’s decision to reimburse expenses and give days off to members of the military in need of travel to have an abortion. The Pentagon took the initiative last year after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion, leaving some states to ban the procedure.

Consequently, for months, several hundred positions have been filled on an interim basis. In other words, by personnel with extremely limited decision-making power. It is therefore an obstacle to the proper functioning of the American military administration, unwelcome in the midst of the war in Ukraine and while China is intensifying its maneuvers near Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

700 hours to catch up

The situation is increasingly embarrassing and dividing within the Republican Party. Caught between its ambition to be the party of soldiers and the party against abortion, it cannot speak with one voice and decide whether Tommy Tuberville’s initiative is brilliant or “a security problem”. national” (dixit Mike McCaul). Current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence, both candidates in the primary, are supporting Tommy Tuberville. While Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told The Hill news site that he thought “blocking these soldiers who can’t even get involved in politics was a mistake.”

The only solution to circumvent this parliamentary obstruction is the one that was finally adopted Wednesday evening: approve the nominations individually. If the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, forced the vote, he still remains reluctant to use this strategy. Since the start of this crisis, Democrats have accused the opposing camp of being responsible. Chuck Schumer harshly criticized Tommy Tuberville, who he said set himself up as a “guardian of which officers can be promoted and which officers have to sit and wait.” He recalled that “the responsibility [pour le retard] “is entirely up to the senator from Alabama.”

The Senate is expected to soon confirm the commanders of the Navy and Army. So far, no further votes have been announced. Tommy Tuberville said on Wednesday September 20: “They finally understood that I will not give up. They must make the right decision and abandon the measure. The senator therefore seems determined to continue blocking nominations. At the end of August, a congressional report, commissioned by a Democratic senator, revealed that approving each position would take a minimum of 700 hours in the Senate. Time that the Upper House, faced with the risk of a shutdown at the end of the month, does not have.

2023-09-21 17:52:00


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