This article originally appeared on dermotcole.com.
Last week Sen. Dan Sullivan whined in print that if the Democrats in the Senate really think having no leader of the U.S. Marine Corps for the first time in 164 years is a problem, then Sen. Chuck Schumer should file cloture paperwork to force a vote.
There is no confirmed leader of the Marine Corps because of an abortion protest by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the former football coach who has blocked Pentagon nominees since March under one of the arcane rules of the doddering institution. The total of promotions and transfers blocked by Tuberville so far is 301 and rising.
Rather than call out Tuberville or demand to end a system that rewards obstructionists, Sullivan calls out Democrats and the Biden administration for not bowing to Tuberville’s demands. Tuberville doesn’t want the Pentagon to allow women service members to travel to other states for abortions if the state they are posted to forbids abortions.
Sullivan, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves, is the chief of staff for the reserves in the Marine Forces Pacific Command. It is an embarrassment to the Marine Corps that it has an acting leader at the moment, Gen. Eric Smith, because the Senate won’t take up his confirmation. All because of Tuberville.
Smith is now the acting commandant, the nominee for the next commandant and the assistant commandant.
Sullivan went on national TV two weeks ago and defended Tuberville’s “right” to block military promotions.
While Sullivan complained about Schumer in his letter to the Anchorage Daily News, Sullivan failed to reveal that Sullivan tried to force a confirmation vote on Smith’s promotion.
But Sullivan surrendered. Why? Sen. Mitch McConnell told him to.
The Washington Post reported that Sullivan tired to circumvent Tuberville’s blockage, “But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urged Sullivan not to move ahead, according to three people familiar with the interaction, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to divulge private conversations.”
“The maneuver Sullivan proposed — known as a cloture petition — would set a precedent that would be abused by Democrats when they are in the minority, McConnell warned, adding that it’s possible that Republicans could take back the Senate in next year’s midterm elections. (Right now cloture petitions are used rarely by the minority party and almost never by rank-and-file members such as Sullivan.)”
“Sullivan backed down. (McConnell declined to comment; Sullivan didn’t provide a comment,) the Post reported.
Sullivan, who uses the same obstructionist tactic as Tuberville on a more limited basis, says Schumer should hold a separate vote on each nomination to move forward. But, as the Post put it, “Democrats say that would paralyze the floor and probably eat up every hour the Senate is in session through the end of the year.”
It often seems as if the 100 people in the “world’s greatest deliberative body” are blind to incompetence.
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Dermot Cole has worked as a newspaper reporter, columnist and author in Alaska for more than 40 years. Support his work here.
