Senate confirms top Navy, Air Force picks as Tuberville feud intensifies

The Senate easily confirmed President Joe Biden's picks to be the top officers in the Navy and Air Force on Thursday as frustration with Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blockade of senior military promotions mounts.

The votes were 95-1 to approve both Adm. Lisa Franchetti as chief of naval operations and Gen. David Allvin as Air Force chief of staff. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas was the lone senator to oppose both confirmations. Franchetti's confirmation makes her the first female member of the Joint Chiefs.

In a third vote, senators approved Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney to be the second ranking officer in the Marine Corps, 86-0. The leadership situation atop the Marine Corps took on new urgency on Sunday, when Commandant Gen. Eric Smith was hospitalized with a medical emergency, leaving a three-star general in charge of the service.

Franchetti and Allvin's approval gives the Joint Chiefs a full slate of Senate-confirmed officers for the first time since July. Both nominees are their respective services' No. 2 officers and have been filling the top jobs on an acting basis.

The Joint Chiefs have been hobbled by Tuberville's blanket hold on senior promotions, which the Alabama Republican has imposed in protest of the Pentagon's abortion travel policy.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lined up votes on the three officers after Tuberville and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) forced Schumer's hand by circulating cloture petitions themselves on the nominees.

But the nine-month fight over military nominees has reached a fever pitch, and even Tuberville's fellow Republicans are signaling they're growing impatient with his tactics.

Sullivan led a group of five Republicans on the Senate floor late Wednesday evening and forced Tuberville to block votes on 61 nominees. The action was a significant turn, as Tuberville was confronted by members of his own party who argued his hold is damaging the military at a precarious time.

Several hundred nominees remain frozen despite the approval of the Joint Chiefs picks.

Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.), is circulating a resolution to permit batches of those promotions to be confirmed in a single vote. Democrats hope the growing frustration with Tuberville will create bipartisan momentum for passing the measure.

“We'll work to move this resolution, and I hope to see bipartisan support so we can finally get these hundreds of nominees appointed to their posts," Schumer said. "In the meantime, the Senate will move forward on these three critical senior military nominees."

Ahead of the votes, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) noted that the trio of confirmations "may seem like progress," but in reality the approvals do nothing to resolve the standoff. He urged both parties to give a rules carve-out "serious thought."

"The Senate must consider whether it will allow the U.S. military to be without hundreds of confirmed admirals and generals and to be just one illness or accident away from once again having a service branch without senior leadership," Kelly said.

Franchetti has performed the top Navy job temporarily after the previous Navy chief, Adm. Mike Gilday, retired in August before a successor was confirmed.

Franchetti previously commanded the Navy's 6th Fleet, which covers Europe and Africa and was director for strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon.

Allvin similarly held the strategy, plans and policy spot on the Joint Staff.

He has commanded at the squadron and wing levels, including the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Allvin also commanded forces in both Afghanistan and Europe.

Allvin has filled in atop the Air Force leadership since his predecessor, Gen. C.Q. Brown, took over as Joint Chiefs chair in October.

Mahoney, who will be promoted to the rank of four-star general after his confirmation, is now the Corps’ deputy commandant for programs and resources.

Following Smith’s hospitalization, Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, the Marines' deputy commandant for combat development and integration, stepped in as acting commandant.