The U.S. Senate has successfully confirmed two senior military leaders, including the first-ever female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, despite Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s attempts to block the nominations. Adm. Lisa Franchetti has become the first woman to lead the Navy and hold a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while Gen. David Allvin has been confirmed as the chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. The Senate is also expected to confirm Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney as assistant commandant for the U.S. Marine Corps. Tuberville’s holds on military nominations have drawn bipartisan criticism, but he has shown no signs of relenting.
Franchetti’s confirmation is particularly significant as Tuberville has been holding up almost 400 military nominations to protest the Pentagon’s abortion policy. In response, several Republican senators held the floor for over four hours on Wednesday and called up 61 of the nominations for votes, praising each nominee for their military service. However, Tuberville continues to object to each one.
Allvin, who has been serving as acting chief of staff of the Air Force since October 1, is a career air mobility pilot with extensive experience in Afghanistan and Europe.
If confirmed, Mahoney would temporarily take over as acting commandant for the U.S. Marine Corps, following Gen. Eric Smith’s hospitalization after a medical emergency.
Tuberville’s holds have caused delays in filling high-level military positions, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has criticized him for provoking avoidable emergencies. Schumer has resisted Tuberville’s demand to put each nomination on the floor individually, but he has made exceptions for some top military officers.
Franchetti, currently the vice chief of operations for the Navy, has a distinguished career and has commanded at all levels. She has been promoted to four-star admiral and has served as commander of a naval destroyer and aircraft carrier strike group commander. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Jack Reed expressed confidence in Franchetti’s abilities and praised her as a trailblazer.
President Joe Biden nominated Adm. Samuel Paparo, the current commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, to lead U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, instead of selecting him as the Navy’s top uniformed officer.
While several women have served as military service secretaries, none have held the position of the top uniformed officer. Adm. Linda L. Fagan is the commandant of the Coast Guard, but she is not a member of the Joint Staff.
Tuberville remains steadfast in his holds, citing his opposition to the Pentagon’s abortion policy. Despite the growing backlog of nominations and high-level vacancies, he has refused to drop the holds unless the policy is changed or put to a vote in Congress.
Republican senators, including Dan Sullivan, Joni Ernst, Lindsey Graham, and Todd Young, publicly confronted Tuberville and criticized his holds, arguing that they are affecting military readiness and using nominees as political pawns. They warned that the blockade could lead to experienced individuals leaving military service.
Schumer announced a new workaround to confirm the officers, and a resolution proposed by Reed and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema would allow for the quick confirmation of nearly 400 officers. The resolution, if approved, would tweak the rules until the end of this session of Congress.
