Visitors to the Pentagon inevitably come across a wall featuring photographs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest ranking uniformed military leaders. About a month ago, there was something noticeably wrong with the collection of images.
Gen. David Berger stepped down as commandant of the Marine Corps, and while President Joe Biden chose a capable successor — Gen. Eric Smith — and the Senate was prepared to confirm him, Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blanket hold made that impossible. As a result of the Alabama Republican’s anti-abortion tantrum, the Marines were left without a Senate-confirmed leader for the first time in 164 years — and at the Pentagon, one of the eight frames featuring photographs of the Joint Chiefs was suddenly blank.
Last week, one empty frame became two. Army Gen. James McConville is retiring, and while Biden has tapped Gen. Randy George to succeed him, Tuberville’s blockade has prevented his confirmation, too.
“Today for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, two of our services will be operating without Senate confirmed leadership,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained on Friday. As an Associated Press report added, the Pentagon chief spoke at a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, warning that Tuberville’s antics were jeopardizing everything from troop readiness to retention to U.S. relationships abroad.
Politico published a related report, noting, “U.S. forces are on high alert in the Persian Gulf. As Tehran attempts to seize merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. is sending warships, fighter jets and even considering stationing armed troops aboard civilian vessels to protect mariners. Yet two of the top senior officers overseeing the escalating situation aren’t where they’re supposed to be.”
What’s more, the two vacancies are poised to become three: Navy Adm. Michael Gilday is stepping down this month, during Congress’ summer break. The Senate could’ve confirmed his successor, but Tuberville, again, wouldn’t let that happen.
It’s against this backdrop that CNN reported that Austin has issued a guidance on the need to reshuffle military leadership roles as a result of the far-right senator’s radical tactics. In a memo dated August 2 and obtained by CNN, Austin wrote that the “unprecedented, across-the-board hold is having a cascading effect, increasingly hindering the normal operations of this Department and undermining both our military readiness and our national security.” As a result, Austin recommended a series of steps to try to mitigate the impact of the blockade that includes, “in extraordinary cases,” assigning lower-level officers in a grade of 0-8 or below to lead organizations in an acting capacity, Austin wrote.
The CNN report has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News. Remember, as far as Tuberville is concerned, his blockade against confirming U.S. military leaders is entirely inconsequential and having no meaningful effects whatsoever. People who actually serve in the military — those who actually have credibility on the subject, unlike the senator — keep offering fresh evidence to the contrary. On Friday night, Tuberville shared a stage in Alabama with Donald Trump, and neither Republican made any reference to the GOP senator’s holds against military confirmations. That’s not too surprising: If I were them, I probably wouldn’t be overly eager to brag about potentially dangerous political antics like these, either.
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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