Army, Navy and Marines all without top leaders due to Tuberville holds – By Leo Shane III (Military Times) / Aug 14, 2023
With the top spots at the Army, Navy and Marine Corps now vacant, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin blasted Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blanket hold on department confirmations on Monday for “undermining America’s military readiness” and adding stress to an untold number of military families.
“This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, and it is unsafe,” Austin said at a retirement ceremony for Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday in Maryland. “It’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers and it is upending the lives of far too many American military families.
“Our troops deserve better. Our military families deserve better. And our allies and partners deserve better and our national security deserves better.”
Gilday is set to be replaced by Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the current vice chief of naval operations, which would make her the first woman ever to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But a vote for her confirmation — and more than 300 others, including the top military officer posts in the Army and Marine Corps — have been held up by Tuberville, the senator from Alabama. Gilday’s retirement leaves three of the Defense Department’s eight most senior positions without a Senate-confirmed leader.
