Gen. Mark Milley, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will retire in roughly two weeks, putting additional pressure on the Department of Defense and Congress to come to an agreement to end Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) block on DOD nominations.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, who is the senior ranking member of the Armed Forces and acts as the top military adviser to the president, serves a four-year term that begins on Oct. 1 each cycle. Milley's retirement is set for Sept. 29. The Joint Chiefs of Staff consists of the chairman, vice chairman, and the service chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard Bureau, and Space Force.
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The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps are being led by top military officials in an acting capacity because President Joe Biden's nominees for those roles have not been confirmed by the Senate due to Tuberville. Tuberville has argued for months that the policy the department instituted in response to the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade is illegal, and he has held up the Senate's ability to vote on nominees the way it normally does, in batches by unanimous consent.
Tuberville's hold has blocked 318 military nominations and promotions dating back to February, and DOD officials said that number could double by the end of the calendar year. Adm. Lisa Franchetti, vice chief of naval operations; Gen. Randy George, vice chief of staff of the Army; and Gen. Eric Smith, assistant Marine Corps commandant, are working in their current roles while taking on the acting position above them. Biden selected all three of them to lead their respective service branches.
Last month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this is the first time three service branches are being operated without Senate-confirmed chiefs.
Military leaders have expressed urgency in ending the standoff, though they have done so without expressing a willingness to compromise on the policy, which permits the military to reimburse the travel expenses incurred for service members or dependents who have to travel out of state to receive an abortion or other noncovered healthcare procedures due to restrictive local laws.
"Over the course of this summer, the secretary and his legislative team have engaged with Senate leadership and senators on both sides of the aisle, to include Sens. McConnell and Schumer. In addition, the department continues to engage Sen. Tuberville's office and recently had a meeting with his staff on this topic," Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters on Tuesday. "Now that the August recess is over, Secretary Austin continues to lean hard into this and plans to conduct additional calls with senators this week, and we'll continue to speak out and urge Sen. Tuberville to lift his holds that are putting our readiness and our national security at risk."
The secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Post last week that Tuberville's hold is "unfair to these military leaders and their families" and "is putting our national security at risk."
If Milley retires before the Senate confirms his successor, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, who serves as the Air Force chief of staff, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Christopher W. Grady, would assume the role in an interim capacity. Brown's nomination, should he be confirmed, would also create a vacancy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the head of the Air Force. Biden has already nominated Gen. David W. Allvin, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, to lead the service.
Allvin testified on Tuesday in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tuberville included. The Alabama senator concluded his questioning of the airman by saying, "I wish they'd bring it to the floor today. I'd vote for you to be confirmed. Hopefully, that happens in the near future." A day earlier, the former football coach said he'd also vote for Brown under the same conditions.
Senate Democrats have a workaround they could utilize to get military nominations confirmed individually instead of by batches at a time via unanimous consent, though they have chosen not to pursue that option. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could bring them to the floor one by one, but it would take significantly more time to confirm each nomination or promotion individually.
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"It is my view that the Senate ought to vote on these nominations, especially those at the very top. In my view, that this month, the United States Senate ought to vote on the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Tuberville argued in comments made on the Senate floor earlier this week. "This job is too important not to receive consideration by the Senate or to simply be confirmed without a vote. Democrats can either stop complaining about having acting officials, or they can confirm these nominees. You can't have it both ways."
He also said that if the Senate doesn't vote on Brown's nomination this month, it's "entirely" the fault of the Democrats. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) responded to the idea during Allvin's hearing, saying, "The implication is, why not vote on the top brass and just punish all the people below them? Seems to be the offer that's being made by the GOP: Vote on the top brass and punish everybody else."