![]() ![]() It is time to lift this dangerous hold and confirm our senior military leaders.” The op-ed concludes, “We believe that the vast majority of senators and of Americans across the political spectrum recognize the stakes of this moment and the dangers of politicizing our military leaders. “That is the kind of consequence that’s happening, and these are service members who have literally put their lives on the line for Americans for the last 20 years.” ![]() “Because that move isn’t happening, they are paying $10,000 a month right now month to keep the aging parent in an assisted living facility,” Wormuth said. Wormuth mentioned Tuesday an Army general officer who has been unable to move their aging mother into their home because the hold on their nomination has kept them from moving into a new house as they’d planned. Children haven’t known where they will go to school, which is particularly hard given how frequently military children change schools already.” “Military spouses who have worked to build careers of their own are unable to look for jobs because they don’t know when or if they will move. “We know officers who have incurred significant unforeseen expenses and are facing genuine financial stress because they have had to relocate their families or unexpectedly maintain two residences,” they write. Without the replacements, the “foundation of America’s enduring military advantage is being actively eroded” by Tuberville, and the holds also have “a domino effect upending the lives of our more junior officers, too,” the leaders write. It’s possible to confirm each of the nominees one by one, but Senate Democrats have argued that would take up valuable floor time – despite a five-week recess taken in August. In the Senate, one senator can hold up nominations or legislation, and Tuberville’s stance has left three military services to operate without a Senate-confirmed leader for the first time in history. Tuberville, of Alabama, has delayed the confirmations of more than 300 top military nominees over his opposition to the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing service members and their families who have to travel to receive abortion care. “It is concerning that you got people that are in secretary positions like that, that would say something like that in our country, instead of getting on the phone and calling me and saying ‘Coach, what are you doing?’ It just makes no sense,” he said. In an interview with CNN, Tuberville doubled down on his stance and expressed disappointment in Del Toro’s comments to Tapper about him. And it is putting our national security at risk,” the leaders write. But placing a blanket hold on all general and flag officer nominees, who as apolitical officials have traditionally been exempt from the hold process, is unfair to these military leaders and their families. They are free to introduce legislation, gather support for that legislation and pass it. “Senators have many legislative and oversight tools to show their opposition to a specific policy. The unusual public intervention from the secretaries in a congressional political dispute reflects the frustration felt at the highest levels of the US military over Tuberville’s holds, which have been in place for six months. The three spoke a day after they wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in which they said the months-long standoff is “putting our national security at risk.” It is taking our apolitical military … and eroding its foundations,” Wormuth added. “It is just unprecedented to be attacking apolitical general officers and flag officers in this way. “That is what the American people truly need to understand.” “This is having a real negative impact and will continue to have an impact on our combat readiness,” said Del Toro, who was born in Cuba. Kendall said that at an embassy event in Washington, DC, an Air Force general officer was “taunted” by a Chinese colonel “about the way our democracy was working.”ĭel Toro echoed the same concerns, saying that as someone “born in a communist country, I would have never imagined one of our own senators would actually be aiding and abetting a communist and other autocratic regimes around the world.” “Our potential adversaries are paying attention,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told CNN’s Jake Tapper alongside Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in an exclusive joint interview for “The Lead.” “It is affecting how they view the United States and our military capabilities and support for the military. Tommy Tuberville over his ongoing hold on senior military nominations in an interview with CNN on Tuesday, saying he is aiding communist and autocratic regimes, and being used by adversaries like China against the US. The three US military service secretaries went on the offensive against Republican Sen. ![]()
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