WASHINGTON – After months of delays, the Army and Marine Corps finally have senior officers to represent their service branches on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
On Thursday, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm the nominations of Gen. Randy George as head of the Army and Gen. Eric Smith as commandant of the Marine Corps.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Wednesday that he would send the confirmations, normally handled by the Senate Armed Services Committee, for a floor vote.
The Marine Corps had been without a confirmed senior officer and a representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since early July, when former commander David Berger retired.
And the Army was in the same place after former Army chief Gen. James McConville resigned command on Aug. 4.
Schumer’s decision to send nominations to the floor was offered as a workaround to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) months-long wait to confirm more than 315 officials for key leadership roles in protest of a government policy. Pentagon to pay the troops. out-of-state travel for reproductive services, including abortion and in vitro fertilization.
After months of delays, the Army and Marine Corps finally have senior officers to represent their service branches on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.AP
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which can approve military nominations quickly and en masse, Tuberville can block quick confirmations since the vote must be unanimous on those decisions.
But after voting Wednesday against the confirmation of incoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Tuberville joined his colleagues Thursday in unanimously confirming Smith, and also George, rejected only by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
Lee and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and JD Vance (R-Ohio) joined Tuberville in rejecting Brown’s nomination on Wednesday. Brown was finally confirmed by 83 votes in favor and 11 against.
On Thursday, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm the nominations of Gen. Randy George as head of the Army and Gen. Eric Smith as commandant of the Marine Corps.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin congratulated the generals on their promotions but criticized the delay, saying they were “long overdue.”
“Ensuring we have Senate-confirmed military leaders is critical to the defense of our nation and the readiness of our force,” he said.
Although Brown, George and Smith are now confirmed, Tuberville’s control will continue to block the promotions of another 316 military officers nominated for key positions, which Austin called “unprecedented, unnecessary and unsafe.”
After voting Wednesday against the confirmation of incoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Sen. Tommy Tuberville joined his colleagues Thursday in unanimously confirming Smith, as well as George.
“We continue to see the impacts of retention on more than 300 of our outstanding generals and flag officers,” he said.
“I am committed to working with members of Congress until all of our highly qualified generals and flag officers are confirmed.”
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