Politics, abortion policy take center stage at commander’s confirmation hearing

Gen. Charles Q. Brown, on track to be the Pentagon’s next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, promised a Senate panel Tuesday that he’ll remain nonpartisan and steer clear of politics during his tenure as America’s top military officer.

Easier said than done for a man poised to succeed Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman who clashed repeatedly with former President Trump and with congressional Republicans during his four-year tenure.

Even before Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, Gen. Brown had already waded into a white-hot fight over the Defense Department’s abortion policy, underscoring the immense difficulty today’s top brass are having in keeping the military out of the partisan fray.

Gen. Brown, currently the Air Force chief of staff, took direct aim at the tactics used by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who has thrown up a major parliamentary obstacle to hundreds of military nominations in protest of the Pentagon’s new abortion policy. That policy, adopted after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last summer, offers financial reimbursement and time off for female service members who have to travel out of state for abortions.

Asked directly about the impacts that Sen. Tuberville’s procedural hold might have on the military, Gen. Brown didn’t mince words.

“We will lose talent” because of the holds, he said, explaining that service members and their families may think twice about careers in the military if they can’t rely on Congress to quickly approve their nominations and promotions.

Gen. Brown, echoing Gen. Milley, said the effects will be felt throughout the ranks.

“There’s aspects of readiness and the transition in leadership for our young service members to know who in the position of leadership is qualified, has the experience to be there,” Gen. Brown said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “It has an impact not just for the senior officers but all their staff, and all those below them.”

Mr. Tuberville has insisted that he will not lift the hold until the Pentagon rescinds its accommodative abortion policy. The Pentagon has given no indication it’s willing to budge on the policy, which is expected to become an issue during the looming 2024 presidential campaign.

With the hold in place, the Senate can still advance individual nominees through a floor vote, but cannot advance batches of nominees at once through a simple voice vote. 

Gen. Brown’s upcoming confirmation is expected to be among the votes that will be held up. Mr. Tuberville insists he won’t back down.

“If we’re not going to vote on taxpayer-funded abortion, then let’s vote on these nominees. Voting is our job. It’s not too much to ask of the United States Senate to do its job — to vote,” he said on the Senate floor in April.

The issue did not come up during Gen. Brown’s direct exchange with Mr. Tuberville at Tuesday’s hearing. But several Democrats used their own time to blast the Alabama Republican.

“One of my colleagues is exercising a prerogative to place a hold on 250 generals and flag officers. I’m unaware of anything they have done that would warrant them being disrespected or punished or delayed in their careers,” Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, said during the hearing. 

House Republicans have proposed reversing the policy as part of their fiscal year 2024 defense spending bills. But that provision is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is crafting its own Pentagon budget blueprint.

The fight over the Defense Department’s abortion policy is just one piece of the GOP’s effort to roll back what they see as the military’s “woke” agenda, which critics say includes a disproportionate focus on diversity and inclusion programs, gender ideology, critical race theory, right-wing political extremism and a host of other left-leaning political initiatives at the expense of readiness and lethality.

Pentagon officials have pushed back hard against the idea that liberal policies are hurting America’s armed forces. Behind the scenes, some defense officials maintain that conservative Republicans in Congress are simply trying to score political points by rallying their base behind criticism of a woke military.

For his part, Gen. Brown pledged to stay out of the political fray.

“The first thing I’d do is set a personal example that I will stay nonpartisan and non-political in how I approach the position as chairman, if confirmed,” he said. “And then I’d set that same expectation throughout the force.” 

Despite that promise, it’s difficult to imagine how Gen. Brown could avoid those issues entirely. For example, Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota Republican, told Gen. Brown of a situation in his state in which he said a female National Guard member was sharing barracks and bathroom facilities with biological males who identified as females and started the gender-transition process.

“This 18-year-old girl was uncomfortable with her situation but had limited options on how to deal with it,” Mr. Rounds said. 

Gen. Brown mostly avoided addressing specifics of that situation or others, but he said that it will be his job, if confirmed, to make sure service members feel safe and secure.

“One of the things I’ve thought about throughout my career, as you’re being inclusive, you also don’t want to make other individuals uncomfortable. And so, there are areas … [as we] get feedback like this, we have to take a look to see if we can improve how we approach situations like this,” he said. 

Numerous Republicans on the Armed Services Committee pledged their support for Gen. Brown. Outside of Sen. Tuberville’s hold on nominations, Gen. Brown otherwise is expected to have a smooth path to confirmation as the next Joint Chiefs chairman.