Dem
51
GOP
49
Archibald Henderson is something of a legend in American military history, particularly in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in that branch for 52 years, the last 38+ of those as commandant, reinventing the Corps as a major fighting force and earning the sobriquet "Grand old man of the Marine Corps." He died with his boots on in 1859, leaving the Corps temporarily leaderless until a replacement could be promoted (John Harris, who was elevated to the job the next day).
In the 164 years since Henderson shuffled off this mortal coil, the Corps has always had a commandant in place, avoiding even the less-than-a-day gap of 1859. Yesterday, however, that streak came to an end. The 4-year term of Gen. David H. Berger expired, and his replacement-designate, Gen. Eric M. Smith, has not been formally approved by the Senate. Smith is running the corps nonetheless, but as acting commandant. Nobody knows how long the Corps will be without a proper leader, but it's sure as heck going to be more than one day.
Actually, to be accurate, there is one person who (possibly) knows how long it will be. That would be Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), whose hold on all military promotions is what is keeping Smith from being formally appointed to his new post. We do not pretend to know if there are significant legal differences between what a commandant can do and what an acting commandant can do, but there certainly could be. What we do know is that military types in general, and Marines in particular, are not fond of ambiguities in the chain of command.
Tuberville will pay no political price for his obstinacy; he's from a red state, he's holding up the promotions to make a statement about abortion, and he won 159 games as a football coach. Those things, particularly the football wins, make him bulletproof. On the other hand, it's not a great look for the Republicans as a whole, particularly given that Party's ostensible pro-military stance. There is zero chance that Tuberville is going to secure a reversal of the specific policy he's targeting (the federal government paying travel expenses for soldiers who require abortions). So, he's either going to yield to pressure, or the Senate is going to change its rules, or Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is going to begin the (very slow) floor-vote process for some nominees, or the Pentagon is going to end up with a gaggle of acting commanders. Which will it be? Stay tuned. (Z)