(Washington) The US Congress on Tuesday approved more than 400 military appointments after a Republican senator announced earlier the end of his months-long blockade to protest the Pentagon’s policy on abortion.
President Joe Biden praised the Senate for moving quickly to approve the nomination of “425 highly qualified and patriotic military leaders.”
“These confirmations are long overdue and should never have been delayed,” he said in a statement, adding that “those who serve the nation deserve better than this.” »
“The Senate has just unanimously confirmed hundreds of military promotions. We are working to confirm the rest as soon as possible,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said late this afternoon on X (formerly Twitter).
Hundreds of promotions and confirmations of American military officials had been blocked for months in the Senate by the action of Tommy Tuberville, an elected Republican.
“I release (the nominations) of everyone,” declared the latter Monday, adding however: “I still have a blockage, I believe, on 11 four-star generals”.
This elected official from Alabama, a very conservative state, opposes the financial aid granted by the Pentagon to military personnel who must travel for abortion, since several states have removed the right to abortion after a decision by the Supreme Court last year.
In the Senate, only one senator (out of 100) has the ability to block rapid approval of a nomination for federal office. The 99 other elected officials can then get around this obstacle by organizing a series of votes lifting the blockage.
But the problem posed by Mr. Tuberville was particular because of the tradition of confirming high military positions in groups and unanimously by senators.
To undo his blockage, it would have been necessary to organize a roll-call vote on each named officer, a laborious process that would take months.
Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder spoke to the press on Monday about “encouraging news”, and affirmed that the Pentagon “would continue to communicate with Senator Tuberville and the Senate to urge that all blockages on the appointments of our generals and officers be lifted.”