FORT WORTH, Texas (NewsNation) — Hundreds of military families are stuck in limbo as the Senate hold on promotions drags on.
The Department of Defense confirmed to NewsNation that more than 300 nominations are still pending, and that could rise to more than 600 by the end of the year.
For the first time in history, the United States Army, Navy and Marine Corps are all without Senate-confirmed leaders. The hold has raised concerns about national security, recruitment and quality of life.
The hold is preventing service men and women from being promoted and receiving a pay increase. Military families aren’t able to plan, move, retire or even start a new job.
Now, the hold is galvanizing military spouses like Brandi Jones with the Secure Families Initiative to fight for the more than 300 families who are stuck waiting.
“Those who were affected by this promotion were immediately thrown into chaos,” Jones said. “They were prepared, but then all a sudden, they didn’t have the address to register their children in school, didn’t have the ability to start that new job and where they are currently, they don’t have a job because they left it thinking they’d move on.”
Jones and others visited Capitol Hill to voice their concerns to Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is single-handedly holding up the promotions.
He is holding out on confirming these promotions in protest of a new Pentagon policy which allows time and reimbursement for service members to travel to seek reproductive care, including abortions.
The senator says this violates federal law.
The Pentagon says it consulted with the Department of Justice and it is legal, saying consequences of this standoff could be serious.
“At a time when we are facing Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, we need our Senate-confirmed leaders in these positions to do exactly what they are there to do: Lead,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month, Tuberville wrote, “I remain strongly opposed to this immoral policy, and believe its development and implementation run afoul of legal authority granted to the executive branch.”
His office says more than 5,000 veterans and servicemembers have signed a letter showing support for his initiative.
“He’s a champion to many people by saying, ‘I am going to follow the law and I am going to insist you, the best representation of the military, do the same,'” Bishop Derek Jones, an Alliance for Religious Liberty chaplain, said.
Brandi Jones said she is mainly concerned for our national security and fears military retention will suffer if the situation isn’t resolved soon.
A recent survey by the organization Blue Star Families found that members of all branches have felt impacted by the block.
Usually, the Senate confirms these promotions or nominations in big groups, but that has to be unanimous.
Theoretically, the Senate could vote one by one for each position but that would take a lot of time and the Senate doesn’t reconvene until after Labor Day.