Gen. Eric Smith’s apparent cardiac arrest on Sunday coupled with fast-moving developments in the Middle East have been raised repeatedly this week as officials in Washington seek an off-ramp to the bitter political dispute between Tuberville and the Biden administration that centers on the Pentagon’s travel policy for abortion and affects hundreds of senior military positions.
On Wednesday night, several Republicans, including Sens. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Joni Ernst (Iowa) Todd C. Young (Ind.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) confronted Tuberville on the Senate floor, imploring him to lift his hold for the sake of national security and proposing individual officers for promotions. Tuberville rebuffed them one by one, blocking each proposed nominee as his colleagues’ frustration continued to rise.
The anger that had long been simmering over the issue burst forth in dramatic fashion, as Sullivan and others criticized Tuberville’s tactics. “The key is you put a hold on someone who typically has some kind of control over the issue you’re trying to fix,” Sullivan said. “Why are we putting holds on war heroes?”
The confrontation made clear that some of Tuberville’s Republican colleagues have hit their limit, but it remains unclear if there is enough GOP support for a Democratic plan to temporarily change Senate rules to neutralize his blockade. That proposal is set to come to a vote in the next few weeks, and would need nine Republicans to support it.
Some Republicans have urged Tuberville, who imposed his hold in protest of the Pentagon’s policy reimbursing women for travel to obtain abortions, to adjust tactics and focus instead on Biden’s proposed political appointments rather than nonpartisan military officers.
Tuberville, in a brief interview Wednesday, said he has no intent to change course. “We’re not going to start backing up now just because people are starting to start to get cold feet … on my side” of the political aisle. He held firmly to this position amid the evening’s theatrics on the Senate floor.
As they continued their standoff past 8 p.m., Sullivan and others said they would bring up each military officer due for a promotion by name, regardless of how long it takes, forcing Tuberville to publicly object to each one. “We’re going to stay here,” Sullivan said, “until our list is done.”
Tuberville initiated the legislative blockade in February, preventing the Senate from using its typical process for approving uncontroversial nominees in batches of dozens or hundreds at a time. The number of military officers ensnared by the logjam has risen to 375 and includes positions spanning commands worldwide. The Pentagon estimates that by the end of the year, about three-quarters of the generals and admirals in the Defense Department — 650 of 852 — will be affected by Tuberville’s hold.
The Senate can bypass Tuberville’s hold by voting on officers individually, which it has done in only three instances, but to do so now for every frozen nomination would take months and impede action on numerous other issues.
Smith, 58, is the Marine Corps commandant and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He remains hospitalized in stable condition, the service said in a statement late Wednesday. Officials have offered little publicly about his condition and prognosis, saying the general’s family has asked for privacy as he “continues his recovery” and that updates would be shared “as appropriate.”
Before the Senate approved his nomination in September, Smith was the service’s assistant commandant, a post that remains vacant amid the Senate’s ongoing gridlock. That has left him to shoulder the responsibilities of both jobs since July, when his predecessor retired. He had been among the most candid military officials about the challenges Tuberville’s hold created, saying the workload was not “sustainable.”
It is unclear how long Smith may be out of work. The issue is particularly complex given the long hours, high pressure and frequent travel associated with his job.
Matthew Levy, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University, said that time is crucial in cardiac arrest cases. While declining to address Smith’s recovery specifically, he said there is a range of possible outcomes in cardiac arrest cases, with death and coma being worst-case scenarios and a full recovery feasible if a patient receives lifesaving care within minutes.
Levy pointed to the NFL’s Damar Hamlin as one high-profile example. In January, the Buffalo Bills safety collapsed after a collision and went into cardiac arrest, received medical care within moments, and went on to return to playing football later in the year.
“The ideal is going on to live a relatively normal life as possible, whatever normal is for that person,” Levy said. “But for each minute that goes by that someone is in cardiac arrest and their brain is deprived of those pressure nutrients and oxygen, irreversible brain damage starts to occur.”
For now, with the No. 2 post empty and no other Marine Corps four-star generals at the Pentagon, Smith’s duties will fall to a subordinate general, Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, Marine officials said.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Wednesday that he supports temporarily changing the Senate’s rules to bypass Tuberville’s blockade and allow senators to vote on a large block of military nominees. The resolution, backed by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), would need all Democrats and nine Republican votes to pass.
It is unclear if nine Republicans back such a move, but Schumer indicated he is ready to force the issue.
“Patience is wearing thin with Sen. Tuberville on both sides of the aisle,” he said. “What happened with the Marine commandant just showed many people how dangerous” Tuberville’s gambit has proved. The majority leader said he is “very optimistic” that the resolution will pass once put to a vote, but when asked when that could happen, he responded: “We’ll see.”
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he believes the hold on military nominations is a “bad idea.”
“I have been among those trying to convince Sen. Tuberville to express his opposition some other way, by people who actually make policy as opposed to our military heroes,” McConnell said.
Republicans have offered Tuberville multiple off-ramps this year, but he has refused to go along, according to one Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. One is for Tuberville to focus his hold on Biden’s pick to lead policy for the Defense Department, Derek Chollet.
During a private meeting of Senate Republicans on Wednesday, Smith’s unclear prognosis and the unpredictability of the war in Gaza both were raised as reasons that lawmakers must find a resolution soon, according to a Senate aide familiar with the discussion, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the conversations. Among the nominees on hold are the prospective next commander of the Navy’s 5th Fleet and the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command. Both positions have vital leadership functions in the Middle East, where U.S. troops have faced repeated attacks since the war between Israel and Gaza reignited in early October.
“The thought is that this is a really dangerous time, and not a time when we want a [junior varsity] squad of military officers” temporarily filling key posts, the aide said.
On Tuesday, Schumer filed a motion to force individual votes to fill key vacancies in the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Those nominees include Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Biden’s choice to lead the Navy; Gen. David W. Allvin, nominated to lead the Air Force; and Lt. Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, who would be promoted to four-star general, become the Marine Corps’s No. 2 officer, and step in as the caretaker commandant in Smith’s absence.
A spokesman for Tuberville, Steven Stafford, had indicated earlier that the senator would push for an individual vote for Mahoney, and Sullivan said he would press for votes on Allvin and Franchetti.
Those could be held as soon as Thursday.
Any vote to go around Tuberville’s hold on the hundreds of other frozen nominations is probably weeks away, as it still needs to go through the committee process. Many Republican senators have rejected the idea, however, saying they believe it could weaken lawmakers’ power to stall nominations in the future.
“I’m not for a rule change,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), “because I think we see around here that once precedent is set for a rule change then it’s a slippery slope to other changes, which I think threatens the institution.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a moderate Republican who Democrats often seek out for bipartisan efforts, said Wednesday that she, too, is “cautious” about any vote that overturns the Senate’s rules, even as she remains concerned about the impact of Tuberville’s hold.