The hold on military promotions initiated by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., did not risk national security, the Government Accountability Office wrote in a recent report. (Jack Sanders/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — A 10-month blockade on 447 military promotions initiated by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., in 2023 disrupted the flow of leadership and upended some military families’ lives but did not harm readiness, according to a government watchdog.
The Government Accountability Office found the effect of the hold varied based on individual circumstances, with some families experiencing a limited impact while others were unable to move to planned duty stations, enroll children in schools on time and start new spousal jobs.
But the warnings by former defense secretaries and others that the hold risked national security were unsubstantiated, the GAO wrote in a recent report. Data and an interview with a Defense Department official involved in readiness oversight showed the blockade did not stop military units from completing missions.
Tuberville prevented the Senate from approving military promotions due to his opposition to a Pentagon policy that provided travel funds for service members and dependents who needed to travel out of state to obtain reproductive health care, including abortions.
He lifted his hold after nearly a year, without any concessions by the Pentagon. President Donald Trump’s administration reversed the policy earlier this year.
Tuberville in a statement said the GAO report confirmed his longstanding position that his hold on nominations had “zero” effect on readiness.
“If the Biden administration was actually concerned about readiness, they would have reversed the policy and I would have immediately dropped the holds,” he said. “But they didn’t because they care more about taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand than they care about our troops.”
Tuberville is expected to announce his candidacy for Alabama governor next week.
The report describes a series of cascading effects from Tuberville’s blockade, particularly on military families.
The Marine Corps, for example, had to cancel a general officer’s planned move because the officer was needed to fill a position for which the nomination was on hold. The officer’s household goods had already been sent to their future duty station.
Another Marine Corps officer was unable to enroll their teenage child in a new school and some Air Force general officers sold their homes, lived in temporary housing and paid for storage out of their own pocket.
“Further, officers with elderly parents, family members with medical conditions, school-age children, and spouses with employment opportunities faced hardships due to the instability as a result of the hold,” the report stated.
One Space Force general officer was geographically separated from his spouse for multiple months while his retirement was deferred because his replacement’s nomination was on hold.
The nomination blockade also interrupted the military promotion cycle and pay for officers. Some missed out on several months of pay raises ranging from $350 to $2,106 per month and others could not accrue time-in-grade requirements.
To mitigate the fallout, the Defense Department deferred retirements, proceeded with planned assignments for some officers and temporarily filled some vacant positions with civilian employees to ensure continuity of operations, according to the report.
Special assistant roles were created in several cases to allow officers to move while they waited for their promotions. Such workarounds still required families to live in temporary housing for several months until the stalled nominations were confirmed.
