Staff Reports
In a dramatic showdown on Capitol Hill, the Senate finally waved the white flag, er, confirmed nearly a dozen four-star generals after a 10-month blockade on military promotions. The whole shebang ended on Tuesday, just in time for the senators to mosey on home for some Christmas cookies and eggnog.
Now, let’s talk turkey. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) made a real ruckus over these promotions, holding them hostage over the Pentagon’s wild idea to pay for gals’ abortion travel expenses. Talk about a hootenanny! He wanted to yank those generals up for individual votes, causing quite a ruckus on the ol’ Senate floor.
Senate formally ends Tuberville blockade with confirmation of four-star generals https://t.co/61kDtZWWbS
— David Sivak (@DISivak) December 19, 2023
But lo and behold, after a whole heap of hullabaloo, Tuberville finally threw in the towel. The Senate confirmed those bigwig generals in a jiffy, without so much as a peep from the other side. It was like a showdown at high noon, except it happened in the evening, and there were no tumbleweeds—just a bunch of senators dusting off their hands and calling it a day.
And get this, more than 400 other nominees got the green light too! The Pentagon was in a tizzy over the whole dang thing, warning that their readiness was about as shaky as a leaf on a windy day. But all’s well that ends well, I reckon.
But hold onto your hats, folks! This ain’t the end of the rodeo just yet. There’s still some Senate business to wrangle, including something about the Federal Aviation Administration and a whopping $60 billion for Ukraine. Yeehaw, it never ends around here!
In the end, this whole fiasco was like a game of cat and mouse, with Tuberville tugging on one end of the rope and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) yanking on the other. But with a tip of the ol’ ten-gallon hat, Tuberville relented, and the generals got their stripes. And that, folks, is how the cookie crumbles. Until next time, y’all!
