The Senate chamber of Congress is hotly contested. Any major moves changes everything.
And now a U.S. Senator has made an utterly game-changing announcement.
Kyrsten Sinema, an independent U.S. Senator from Arizona, is attempting to broker a bipartisan compromise to Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s obstruction of military advancements.
The pro-life Republican from Alabama has been criticizing the Pentagon’s new abortion travel policy since it became known in March, nine months ago.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, remanding abortion regulation to the states, the federal government made the decision to shift course.
Sinema, an abortion supporter, reportedly began coordinating with Senator Tuberville a few weeks ago to find an arrangement that will allow the 300+ military promotions to move forward more quickly. This was reported by Politico on Tuesday.
She remarked, “I still hope not to have to use a resolution” to put a stop to his protest. “The best way for this to be resolved is for Coach [Tuberville] to choose a hostage that is appropriate.”
Senator Jack Feed, who serves as chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who has been working on a resolution to change the Senate’s standing order, have received the backing of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
It would circumvent the requirement for a Senate rule modification, which would necessitate 67 votes. Politico reports that Sinema’s proposal need only 60 votes to pass.
Therefore, the Arizona senator will need to convince some Republicans to vote alongside her and the Democrats, who now have a one-vote majority in the Senate.
According to Politico, “one senator can slow a nominee for any reason, even when it comes to the military,” in the Senate.
According to The Hill, Tuberville has suggested to Schumer that they may get past his hold by considering promotions for individual officers one at a time.
However, for Democrats, this means less time on the Senate floor to vote on judicial nominations and other nominations for the Biden administration.
“Tensions boiled over on the Senate floor last week, when defense hawk Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) clashed with Tuberville when he blocked their attempt to move 115 military nominees without floor votes,” The Hill reported recently.
On Tuesday, Tuberville told reporters, “I want to get this over with, but do it the right way.”
He demanded that the Pentagon modify its stance on abortion-related travel.
“I’m not lifting my holds. There are some ways around this, and we’re going to explain them to you a little bit later,” Tuberville shared with some reporters.
At this point, no Republicans have announced support for Sinema’s carveout plan to advance military nominations with a group vote, as reported by Politico.
While it’s fair that Sinema is clearly not the extremist Democrat the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer himself, some conservatives are concerned that she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Kari Lake recently took to Twitter to say she’s a fake independent who actually wants to continue to work with the Democrats to get their agenda kicked into gears.
How phony is @kyrstensinema’s “departure” from the Democrat party?@chuckschumer let her keep her committee assignments, & she still caucuses with the Democrats.
There’s nothing “independent” about Sinema.
I won't let her gaslight Arizonans. https://t.co/7p8pA8y0kI pic.twitter.com/DDA2EsOAgp
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 6, 2023
The DC Daily Journal will keep you updated on any developments in the U.S. Senate on this matter.
