Tuberville Tries To Rehab, Goes Along With Back Pay For Promotions He Blocked

There’s some good news for a change. Unfortunately it’s tempered by some bad news.

Let’s start with the good news. The Senate has passed some legislation to right a wrong. The wrong was Senator (who should have remained a football coach) Tommy Tuberville didn’t object to passing a bill that would provide back pay to the hundreds of senior military officers who’s promotions he (with help for too long from fellow Senate GOPers) held up. Like countless others I advocated (including directly to my own Senators who are both Republicans) for this very thing. It doesn’t undo the damage Senator Tub-O-Lard has done to our National Security. In fact, as noted in MSNBC’s Maddow Blog:

But that burst of progress did not suddenly turn this into an all’s-well-that-ends-well story. A leading Navy official, for example, has said it will likely “take years to recover” from the far-right senator’s blockade.

For the record, both in comments to things others have written elsewhere and in some articles I’ve written and posted myself here on PZ I’ve talked about the ripple effect of Tuberville’s stunt. (And that’s what it was, an attention getting stunt to help him raise money) First and most importantly the National Security impact not to mention how tis all has made us look (not good) to both allies and enemies around the world. However I’ve also talked about the fact there were other officers who were slated to move up into the positions the officers who’s promotions had been blocked. And officers who weren’t able to move up into those positions and so on down the line. In the end well over a thousand and perhaps closer to two thousand officers (and their families) have been negatively impacted. Still, it’s a positive step in the right direction.

This idea of back pay didn’t suddenly pop up. It’s been kicked around for a while now on Capitol Hill, no doubt with plenty of Republican Senators wanting to try and repair their relationship with our Armed Forces.  Personally I find it appalling that Tuberville signed on as a co-sponsor. He should have been told to go to hell!  For him it’s especially important to try to rehab his image not just with the public but with his fellow Senators. Including Senators on his own freaking side of the aisle! Why do I say he should have been told to go to hell by colleagues starting with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell? Because there are still some promotions Tuberville is continuing to block! What the hell? He simply should be allowed to have it both ways.

I have a fair amount of confidence when the blockade of the remaining officers is overcome if the bill just passed by the Senate doesn’t have language including them that a separate measure will be passed. So at least something good has just happened. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that now the measure goes over to the GOP controlled House. Frankly I have significant doubts they will go along, at least not without a fight. If as we know they are willing to hold up military and humanitarian aid to two of our allies to attain a border policy (only the southern border of course) so draconian even Stephen Miller would blush they will attach “border security” to the bill providing back pay to officers who should have already long been serving in their new positions and at their new pay rate. It wouldn’t take that many Republicans to go along but Speaker Johnson is in the same fix McCarthy was. A single member can call for a vote to take the gavel away from HIM and the Free-DUMB caucus is already major pissed at him for getting the National Defense Authorization Act passed and on to President Biden’s desk for signature!

Also keep this in mind. The Senate remains in session trying to work out a deal to get way harsh border policy added to the supplemental appropriation bill for aid to Ukraine and Israel. They are at work wheeling and dealing as I write this. They will be in DC next week too. House GOPer’s however want to be out “playing Christmas” so while at first glance all the officers (and their families) Tuberville screwed shouldn’t be feeling all that good this holiday season. As the linked article says:

For these officers and their families, this is the good news. The bad news is that the measure now heads to the Republican-led House, which won’t consider the bill until the new year because its members have left town.

Hakeem Jeffries would have no problem holding his caucus in town to get this done, as well as to pass the supplemental aid package for Ukraine and Israel. Alas, as I said House Republicans wanted to go home and “play Christmas” so it’s not “Merry Christmas and sorry for what we put you though” to those officers that got screwed over. And a gigantic “F**K YOU!” to Ukraine. As I think about it it’s not actually a “good news tempered by bad news” situation after all. It’s more like “A step towards maybe down the road some good news” tempered with “It will only wind up being actual good news if WE (House GOPers) get to be cruel about immigration policy.”