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Senate Minority Whip John Thune told reporters this morning that he’d been involved over the weekend with “conversations” about Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade on military nominees. "I’m hopeful that today, we’re going to — keep your fingers crossed,” the South Dakota Republican said. “I hope we’ll have a breakthrough.”
After 10 months of frustration, good news followed soon after. NBC News reported:
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., announced Tuesday that he is dropping the bulk of his months-long hold on hundreds of military nominations. Tuberville told reporters that he has lifted his hold on all military promotions three-star and below, amounting to over 400 promotions.
These developments did not come out of nowhere. It was just a week ago when Punchbowl News reported that the Alabaman told his Republican colleagues that he was prepared to change course. “Listen, everyone,” Tuberville reportedly said. “I got y’all into this mess. I’m gonna get you out.”
A day later, the far-right GOP senator told Politico he was considering ending his blockade “soon, but not today.”
Today, however, is apparently that day. Tuberville, who insisted for months that he wouldn't cave, conceded that he's effectively waving the white flag — despite the fact that the Pentagon's policy on travel reimbursements for troops in need of reproductive care remains unchanged.
“I’m releasing everybody. I still got a hold on I think 11 four-star generals. Everybody else is completely released from me," he told reporters. “But other than that, it’s over.”
The senator went on to say, "We didn’t get the win that we wanted."
That, of course, was another way of saying Tuberville spent nearly a full year undermining his own country's armed forces during international crises, and as he eases up on his blockade, the Alabaman has nothing to show for it.
Whether the senator is prepared to admit it or not, he wasn't left with a lot of choices: Several GOP senators had turned against Tuberville's radical and unprecedented tactics, and Democrats were moving forward with a procedural solution that would've ended the blockade.
As for when the Senate might be able to take votes on the four-star generals who are still being blocked for no apparent reason, watch this space.