US Senate Overrides Tuberville’s Holds, Appoints First Female to Joint Chiefs

Despite Senator Tommy Tuberville’s attempted holds, the U.S. Senate proceeded to endorse the nominations of two key military figures on Thursday. This included the momentous confirmation of Adm. Lisa Franchetti, marking her as the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

With a voting count of 95-1, Adm. Franchetti was given the charge of the Navy, setting a precedent as the first woman to occupy a leading role in the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Similarly, Gen. David Allvin was ratified as the U.S. Air Force’s chief of staff with the same voting ratio. Subsequently, the Senate was poised to approve Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney’s nomination as the U.S. Marine Corps’ assistant commandant.

Franchetti’s groundbreaking confirmation as the naval operations chief arises amidst bipartisan reproach directed at Tuberville for stalling nearly 400 military nominations. This stall tactic was his form of dissent against the Pentagon’s abortion policy. In an unforeseen show of disapproval, numerous Republican senators fervently spent hours advocating for these nominations.

Gen. Allvin, who had been the acting chief after the departure of Gen. CQ Brown, boasts an illustrious career, including significant deployments in Europe and Afghanistan.

If endorsed, Mahoney is poised to assume the role of acting commandant, succeeding Gen. Eric Smith, who experienced a medical emergency recently. Notably, Smith’s overlapping roles were a direct consequence of Tuberville’s holds.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accentuated that such unpredicted emergencies underline the perils of Tuberville’s heedless objections. While Tuberville urges for each nomination to undergo a lengthy process, Schumer remains hesitant, although he has made exceptions for certain high-ranking military officers.

Adm. Franchetti’s extensive experience within the Navy is underscored by her various commanding roles, including her leadership in the U.S. 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Korea. She stands as the second woman to earn the rank of a four-star admiral.

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Sen. Jack Reed, commended Franchetti, labeling her appointment as a significant historical milestone.

Although Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin initially suggested Adm. Samuel Paparo for the position, President Joe Biden proposed him for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. It’s noteworthy that while several women have held military service secretary roles, none had been in the position of top uniformed officer.

Tuberville’s steadfast stance on military holds stems from his disagreement with the Pentagon’s policy on reproductive care costs, particularly post the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion rights. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s political interference in military affairs.

The dispute saw multiple Republican senators, including Sens. Dan Sullivan, Joni Ernst, and Lindsey Graham, vehemently opposing Tuberville’s approach. They emphasized the negative implications of these holds on military readiness and lamented the utilization of nominees as mere “political pawns.”

Sen. Sullivan and Sen. Ernst, both with military backgrounds, expressed mounting exasperation as the night progressed, particularly at Tuberville’s unyielding stance.

The Republican move to expedite nominations was in response to Schumer’s proposed alternative method to validate officers. Schumer intimated that a resolution might soon be contemplated to enable swift confirmation of pending military officers. A proposition by Reed and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema aims to amend the rules to facilitate collective approval of military nominations, with exclusions applied to other nominations.

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More about fokus keyword: Military Nominations

• [U.S. Senate Military Confirmations]
• [Adm. Lisa Franchetti’s Profile]
• [Senator Tommy Tuberville’s Stance on Pentagon’s Abortion Policy]
• [History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]
• [Pentagon’s Reproductive Care Policy]
• [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Announcements]
• [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Recommendations]
• [U.S. Military Nominee Process]