Schumer plans votes on military nominees amid Tuberville hold

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday announced that he would seek to hold votes on three key military nominations amid a sustained hold from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

Schumer aims to hold votes for C.Q. Brown to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Randy George for Army chief of staff, and Eric Smith for Marine Corps commandant, The Hill reported. Schumer indicated his would aim for Friday or Saturday votes should any Republicans object to a Wednesday vote.

"The Senate should not have to go through procedural hoops just to please one brazen and misguided senator, but this is where we are," Schumer fumed.

Tuberville has unilaterally implemented a blanket hold on military nominations in protest of the Pentagon's policy of providing paid leave for military servicemembers to obtain abortions. Tuberville cannot block the promotions outright, but he can force the Senate to schedule individual votes and hearings by withholding unanimous consent for appointments.

The upper chamber typically approves military nominees by unanimous consent in batches. Tuberville's lengthy hold has blocked more than 300 promotions. Schumer, meanwhile, has resisted scheduling such votes until now.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.