{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-gop-senate-veterans-keep-commitment-to-military-members-and-their-families-to-work-to-bypass-blanket-holds-and-confirm-military-nominees-one-by-one", "Sullivan, GOP Senate Veterans Keep Commitment to Military Members & Their Families to Work to Bypass Blanket Holds and Confirm Military Nominees One-by-One", "2023-11-17", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Dan Sullivan", "S001198", "www.sullivan.senate.gov", "sullivan", "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases?PageNum_rs=18", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Late Wednesday night, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and the only member of the Senate currently serving in the military, led Republican senators and military veterans, Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), in again trying to confirm a number of the 450 general military officer promotions\u2014one-, two-, three-, and four-star generals and admirals\u2014that have been held for nine months. This is the second attempt by the senators to confirm these military nominees in the past month.\n\nSen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) put a blanket hold on these promotions beginning in February in response to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin\u2019s new abortion travel policy. Sen. Sullivan, who is pro-life, also strongly objects to the Defense Department (DOD) policy, and has been working with Sen. Tuberville for months to try to find a solution, including putting a targeted hold on the confirmation of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, the number-three civilian official at the Pentagon who actually makes and implements policy. But Sen. Sullivan strongly opposes blanket holds on military officials\u2019 promotions, which only punishes military members and their families when they have absolutely nothing to do with the policy dispute.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m honored to be here again with Senators Graham, Ernst, and Young,\u201d said Sen. Sullivan. \u201cWe were down on the floor two weeks ago, and at that time we promised military members and their families that we had their back, that we would keep coming down to the Senate floor to try to move forward their nominations and confirmations that have been stalled. We told them we're going to do that\u2026My colleagues and I will keep our word. We keep our word to our military.\u201d\n\nSen. Sullivan, ranking member of the SASC Readiness Subcommittee, emphasized the Republican commitment to taking care of America\u2019s military service members and their families.\n\n\u201cMy colleagues standing with me tonight and I have two big things in common: We\u2019re pro-life and we\u2019re pro-military,\u201d said Sen. Sullivan. \u201cWe\u2019ve all served and understand the sacrifice of service, and we also understand that this blanket hold is punishing people who are seriously sacrificing for our country. It is a core principle, certainly of Republicans, to support our brave military members as they protect all of us.\u201d\n\nSen. Sullivan pointed out that the process he and his colleagues were undertaking was one that Senator Tuberville had previously agreed too.\n\n\u201cMy colleague from Alabama said many times that if you bring up nominees one by one, he'd be fine with it\u2026On September 6th, he said: \u2018I'm not holding up nominees from being approved. They can bring them to the floor one at a time and I won't block them.\u2019 That's what we're doing,\u201d said Sen. Sullivan.\n\n\u201cThis is the most important question [for Sen. Tuberville],\u201d Sen. Sullivan added. \u201cWhy punish patriotic military members over a policy dispute they have nothing to do with and can't fix? Why punish people who have seriously sacrificed for America\u2014more than anyone else on the floor here, certainly\u2014over a policy dispute they have nothing to do with? Why punish their families and the war heroes supporting these families that you will hear about tonight who served their country so faithfully when they have nothing to do with the dispute on the floor? Why punish some of the most experienced combat officers, when they have nothing to do with this dispute?\u201d\n\nFinally, in his attempt to get more nominees confirmed until almost 4:00 in the morning, Sen. Sullivan highlighted the fact that, right now, members of our military, including some whose promotions are being held, are under fire and in combat in the Middle East, and are deployed around the world over the holidays.\n\n\u201cThis is having a huge readiness challenge and a huge morale challenge while our troops are literally in combat, literally under fire,\u201d said Sen. Sullivan. \u201cSome of these officers being held in the Middle East in terms of their promotions are in combat right now.\u201d\n\nBackground\n\nFor months, Sen. Sullivan has been advocating for challenging the DOD policy by putting a hold on the confirmation of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, the number-three civilian official at the Pentagon who actually makes and implements policy; trying to change the policy through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference committee process; and having Congress bring litigation to challenge the new policy.\n\nBut Sen. Sullivan does not support a blanket hold that punishes and disrupts the careers and lives of hundreds of military officers\u2014some of the most combat-experienced men and women who have served our country honorably for decades\u2014who have nothing to do with this dispute and no power to resolve it. Sen. Sullivan and his colleagues have been bringing each nominee up, one by one, as Senator Tuberville has requested, but he continues to block all of these promotions.\n\nThe Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion, and Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)\u2014representing millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Alaskans\u2014have also voiced their opposition to Sen. Tuberville\u2019s blanket hold on military officer promotions, because these holds are severely damaging our military, its readiness, and military families during one of the most dangerous times since World War II. Sen. Sullivan also said he has heard from hundreds of military members across the nation thanking him for standing up for America\u2019s troops and their families when so many in Congress have been silent.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-gop-senate-veterans-keep-commitment-to-military-members-and-their-families-to-work-to-bypass-blanket-holds-and-confirm-military-nominees-one-by-one"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6430819630622864, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}