Monday was meant to be a historic day, one in which a woman for the first time ascended to the ranks of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Instead, the Defense Department will mark a more sober milestone. With the retirement of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, for the first time in U.S. history, interim officers are filling three of the eight seats on the Pentagon’s storied board of most senior military members.
So Monday brought a different sort of handover ceremony. Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the vice chief of naval operations and the nominee to replace Gilday, assumed the role in an acting capacity — with no idea of when she’ll be confirmed.
The remarkable situation is thanks to an eight-month blockade on military promotions put in place by Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who opposes a new Pentagon policy on paying for service members to travel to another state to receive abortion and other reproductive services. More than 300 senior officer nominations are now on hold due to the standoff.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted the “painful milestone” in remarks at the ceremony. The Pentagon chief has spoken multiple times with Tuberville about the hold, to no avail.
“This is unprecedented. It is unnecessary. And it is unsafe,” said Austin, speaking at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. “This sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness. It’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers. And it’s upending the lives of far too many American military families.”
With or without a timely confirmation, Franchetti will need to get in front of Congress and make the case for the Navy which has found itself unable to grow or modernize in key areas at a time when policymakers warn China is growing more aggressive.
The next chief “must be aggressive and clear with Congress and the public and what the state of the Navy is – no more ‘we have what we need’ when all facts say otherwise,” said Brent Sadler, a retired Navy officer now at the Heritage Foundation.
The remarkable situation is thanks to an eight-month blockade on military promotions put in place by Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
