Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith, who is in command of the Marines, was unexpectedly hospitalized after suffering an apparent heart attack on Sunday.
Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, has put a blanket hold on approving any promotions among senior officials in the military because the military will cover travel costs for service members requiring abortions since February. Until this policy is changed, he has said, he will not approve any promotions for any military staff.
The Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, slammed Tuberville for these holds, saying he had filed a nomination for General Mahoney to be promoted to second-in-command of the marines, and his “appointment has become urgent” in light of what happened to Smith, because “normally, Lieutenant General Mahoney would have been able to immediately step in to temporarily serve as Commandant. But unfortunately, because of the blanket holds of just one senator, Senator Tuberville, that cannot happen.”
He characterized this as one of many “avoidable emergency that Senator Tuberville has provoked through his reckless holds.” Tuberville is responsible for more than 300 nominations being held. Schumer said that “these holds cannot and must not continue” and said that Senator Reid, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, “introduced a resolution that will allow the Senate to quickly confirm the nominations” that he will bring to the floor “when the time comes.”
