In the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, Sen. Brian Schatz noted via social media that the United States really needs, among other things, a confirmed chief of naval operations right now. “This is a serious situation that requires us to set aside our differences and make sure we have our full complement of leaders in defense and foreign policy,” the Hawaii Democrat wrote.
Under normal circumstances, such a statement wouldn’t even be necessary because it would be reductively obvious. Alas, these are not normal circumstances: The United States does not currently have a confirmed chief of naval operations because this is one of the several hundred positions subject to Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade.
Given the seriousness of the crisis in Israel, perhaps the far-right Alabaman could put his anti-abortion tantrum aside and prioritize the needs of his own country’s military? Evidently not. Politico reported:
Sen. Tommy Tuberville is not relenting from his monthslong blockade of military nominations over the Biden administration’s abortion policy — even in the face of one of America’s closest allies going to war. After Hamas attacked Israel, Senate Democrats said it was past time for several top-level military nominees to be approved. But a Tuberville spokesperson confirmed Sunday that the senator’s position remains.
The spokesperson added Tuberville would shift gears if the Pentagon gave in to the GOP senator’s demands and ended reimbursement benefits for U.S. troops.
I’ll be eager to see whether Tuberville’s Republican colleagues, many of whom seem to recognize the seriousness of the crisis in Israel, continue to tolerate the Alabaman’s dangerous tactics.
Of course, there are other nominees who are also in need of attention. Politico also reported over the weekend that the United States also does not currently have a confirmed ambassador to Israel, which is a problem Democrats are eager to address.
Senate Democrats are pushing aggressively for quick confirmation of Jack Lew as ambassador to Israel after the attack by Hamas on Saturday. Lew was nominated in early September. But the attack, widely condemned by both parties and across the ideological spectrum, will kick the effort into high gear.
Again, under normal circumstances Lew’s nomination would be a no-brainer. His resume is extraordinarily impressive — Lew has served as the White House budget director, White House chief of staff, and Treasury secretary — and he’s already been through the Senate confirmation process more than once, receiving bipartisan backing. There’s also little doubt that the United States would benefit from having a qualified and respected ambassador in place in Israel right now.
“For the U.S. to be without an ambassador at this critical moment would be political malpractice by the Senate,” Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said over the weekend. But the Politico article added this tidbit of information: “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has previously put holds on some Biden administration nominees for posts related to the Middle East, raising questions about how quickly Lew could move through the Senate.” It’s not just the Texan: The Wall Street Journal also recently reported that Republican Sens. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Rand Paul of Kentucky “have thrown up roadblocks to the confirmation of dozens of U.S. ambassadors,” leaving key vacancies in diplomatic posts around the globe. Maybe the crisis in Israel will cause GOP senators to reconsider some of their tactics. But either way, the political world is overdue for a serious conversation about the routinization of procedural abuses in the Senate, and the degree to which these abuses are adversely affecting American governance.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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