Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the secretary of the Air Force, testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday regarding his nomination to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

One of the most common recurring topics during Brown's time in front of the committee was the hold Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has placed on military nominees and promotions due to his concerns about the Pentagon's policies on abortion. Tuberville, who is a member of the committee, did not reference his protest as it continues to hold up roughly 260 military promotions during his allocated time to question Brown, though many others did.

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The hold that Tuberville has placed on military promotions since February affects more than just the high-level officials. It includes hundreds of flag officers and their families, many of whom are navigating major life decisions such as arranging a move, enrolling children in new schools, or retirement.

"There's several factors that I think about as we're going through this and how we're working to mitigate the challenges associated with the holes," Brown said. "There's aspects of readiness and the transition in leadership and for our young service members to know who is in the position of leadership that's qualified, that has the experience to be there and not in some cases put in a — we have strong deputies, but at the same time, they don't have the same level of experience going forward. In addition to the senior officers, there's a whole chain of events that go down to our more junior officers, and that has an impact."

For those junior officers, Tuberville's hold could have an "impact in the progression of their career potentially because if one doesn't get voted or move on, they're blocking a spot for someone else," while it's also preventing "several members who have served honorably and are ready to retire but [are] going to continue to stay with us to help us mitigate that challenge," the Air Force secretary noted while also addressing the impact he has on young families.

"The spouse network is alive and well, and the spouses will compare notes," he said. "The member may want to serve, but the spouses and the families get a huge vote."

Brown also expressed his "concern" that Tuberville's hold could ultimately result in a retention problem, given the impact it has had and may continue to have on young families.

Tuberville is holding up military nominations and promotions due to the policy the Department of Defense implemented in light of the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. Now the department will reimburse service members or their dependents for the travel expenses incurred if they're required to travel across state lines for the procedure due to newly-passed restrictive abortion laws. Despite his concern, DOD officials and politicians frustrated with his tactics, have argued he's punishing ordinary service members who have dedicated their lives to serving their country, and not the military leaders responsible for the policy.

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"One of my colleagues is exercising a prerogative to place a hold on 250 generals and flag officers. I'm unaware of anything that they have done," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said during the hearing. "That would warrant them being disrespected, or punished or delayed in their careers. Just because a prerogative can be exercised, doesn't mean that it should be exercised. We marked up the national defense authorizing act in this committee two weeks ago, and there were some things that I wanted in the act that I did not get in. I was disappointed there were some things that got added to the act that I oppose, disappointed. But I'm not taking my disappointment out of people who have volunteered to wear the uniform of this country and even risked their lives in doing so. I would urge all of my colleagues to turn away from the path that we're on where we are disrespecting and punishing people, because we're unhappy with policies in the military that these individuals had nothing to do with."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has previously criticized Tuberville for his protest, noted that the Alabama senator ended his allotted time by saying if there was anything he could do to help the armed forces, he'd be glad to. She said, "What he could do to help is lift his stay before it does more damage to our country."