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Sullivan, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, relied on his position as the only senator to serve in the military. He warned that the departure of military personnel would come if the nominees were not confirmed before the end of the year. If that happens, it should be renamed.
“One (leader) I know told me personally: ‘I am apolitical but there is one group of elected representatives who usually have our backs – Republican senators. Now you hate us. to us – the world has turned,’” Sullivan said, according to statements obtained by POLITICO.
At that time, it had been more than seven months without success despite the opposition of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other senior Republicans to Tuberville’s government policies.
The strike, which focused on a Defense Department policy to reimburse and provide leave for service members who need to travel to have abortions, largely ended this week when Tuberville dropped it. many of his stops and allow their immediate confirmation.
This story is based on more than a dozen interviews with senators and aides who are closely involved or pursuing the conflict.
While Sullivan is one of the most visible and powerful of his GOP colleagues, a group of Republican senators – including many military veterans – have been trying hard to find a way to end the blockade.
Senate Republicans were caught between Tuberville and a resolution by the Senate Armed Services Chair Check out Reed (DR.I.) to be cancelled. The resolution would have allowed all but a few military campaigns – which Tuberville has held against the Pentagon’s policy to cancel – to be approved in one big block. Reed’s formula calls for nine or 10 Republicans.
At the meeting on November 28, Sullivan announced that he would support the Democratic resolution, and urged other Republican colleagues to join him.
“Like pro-life, this is a key issue that separates Republicans from Democrats,” he told senators. “For that reason, if we are forced to take this vote on the Reed (decision), many of us will feel compelled to support it. My hope is that instead of nine or 10 votes us, it could be 30 or 40 votes.”
Tuberville, known throughout his conference as “Coach,” after his college football days, said in a conference call: “Listen, everybody. I got you all into this mess. I will take you out.”
After the meeting, he gave the first public statement that he could return. Then on Tuesday, he announced that he would withdraw his holding of nominations for three-star positions and below – the solution Sullivan gave him.
Tuberville told reporters he decided to back down when he saw he had no way through the annual defense authorization bill, which was in negotiations, and enough Republican votes to Democrats to pass Reed’s resolution.
Sullivan didn’t work alone. Sen. said. Joni Ernstan Iowa Republican and retired National Guard who served in Iraq, was among the senators urging him to find a place abroad.
“Dan and I worked with Coach for a long time – months and months – and we were just racking our brains trying to offer him different options,” Ernst said in an interview. . “We are all very pro-life. But we just want these (options) to be promoted. “
Ernst, who said there was no bad blood between him and Tuberville after the dispute, said he spoke at weekly GOP dinners “many times” over the course of several months. on the brakes.
This fall, Sullivan raised the issue at all Republican dinners, to a degree that some colleagues, yes Sullivan, considered a disease or a threat. While he said he was never interested in putting a partner on the ground, he pointed to the impact of being on standby amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war against Hamas that must be done. – and it’s working, he argued.
“I think in the fall, when we started bringing it up at the conference, mostly, starting in October, it raised the issue with a lot of senators like, ‘whoa,'” Sullivan said. in an interview afterwards. the brake is removed. “It’s the combination of preparedness and the most dangerous world we’re in right now.”
Again, there was the role played by Reed and Sen. Kyrsten Cinema (I-Ariz.), who created the resolution that would have allowed senators to bypass the normal process, giving Sullivan and others a stick if Tuberville didn’t take their carrot.
Reed, a veteran himself, said the water began to break when five Republicans confronted Tuberville on the Senate floor. All of them except Judah Sen. Mitt Romney seniors: Ernst, Sullivan, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who served in the Air Force as a lawyer, and Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, who served as a Marine.
Tuberville opposed the approval and blocked them individually. The pattern was repeated a few weeks later when the Alabama Republican and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) protested in the early hours of the morning to re-authorize the ads.
“I think Sen. Sullivan did an amazing job of reminding everyone in the (Republican) caucus of their responsibilities to the military,” Reed said in an interview. “They are men and women who risk their lives all the time and they are not just political words.”
Sen. said. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who worked to gather Republican support for Reed’s resolution, also endorsed that group. In the beginning, Kelly held private conversations with Tuberville to explain, from Kelly’s perspective as a 25-year Navy veteran, the damage Tuberville did to national security and jobs. and families of workers.
“And that didn’t work,” Kelly said in an interview. “What was clearly effective was the political power from his own colleagues, their only plan was to give him this pressure which is what did it.”
Tuberville spoke about that pressure in a Senate floor speech on Wednesday, saying repeatedly this week that he has no regrets about his gamble.
“Unfortunately, in the last month, even some of my Republican friends have attacked me – and attacked me personally – here on this floor,” he said. “They are now in the military, and they stood up for their friends, that’s good. But I can stand up and we can all stand up for the lives of the unborn and for our military. You can do both.”
Several lawmakers described months of conflict and emotion in the GOP debate before the impasse, pointing to a disagreement over policy rather than a disagreement over opposition to Pentagon abortions. policy.
However, senators are wary of whether Tuberville has set a worrying precedent for other candidates who will put up their nominations without a fourth option. trust to lead to success in the midst of their policies that are at odds with any authority.
“There is no end to the games. There is no plan,” Romney said in an interview. “It wasn’t a plan that thought out how to succeed.”