Sullivan has nothing to say as GOP senator leaves Marine Corps with no leader
For the first time in 164 years, the U.S. Marine Corps does not have a leader confirmed by the Senate.
You’d expect to hear about this from Sen. Dan Sullivan, the colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve who often behaves as if his primary role in the Senate is to represent the interests of the military, especially the Marine Corps.
His military job is chief of staff on the reserve side of the Marine Forces Pacific Command. He has long argued his two jobs do not create a conflict of interest because he doesn’t criticize the civilian leadership of the military when he wears his colonel’s uniform.
His Senate uniform, however, comes without that constraint. He is a constant critic of the Biden administration’s military policies and budget, always pushing for higher spending. He is aggressive in questioning witnesses who are not generals in the Marines, while he serves softballs to Marine commandants.
Sullivan has never offered a real plan to pay for the increased spending he supports, other than cutting IRS spending, which would reduce federal revenue because fewer tax cheats would be investigated.
“In terms of readiness, I think across a number of critical realms the US military is already in a readiness crisis,” he said during a May hearing.
He would be complaining long and loud about the vacancy at the the top of the Marine Corps as a crisis that puts the lives of military personnel at risk, but for one reason.
He can’t blame the failure on Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, AOC, the woke left, environmentalists, Bud Light, reporters, Critical Race Theory or the dictators in China and Russia.
One of his fellow Republican senators is to blame.
As a Republican, Sen. Tommy Tuberville qualifies as blameless in the political world of Dan Sullivan, regardless of what he does.
Once again, Sullivan’s silence reveals his true colors. He is staying in the corner and trying to ride this one out, the same tactic he is using about indicted candidate Donald Trump and any other issue that comes with a political risk.
Under the antiquated rules of the Senate, a single politician can block nominations on a whim, one of many flaws that would be erased if the institution is ever dragged out of the 19th Century.
Tuberville, a retired football coach, has put a hold on military nominations in March because he wants to stop a Pentagon policy that allows personnel access to abortion services if they have to travel out of state.
While Gen. David Berger retired this week, he couldn’t be replaced by Assistant Commadant Gen. Eric Smith because the Senate won’t vote on his confirmation.
Smith is now the acting commandant, the nominee for the next commandant and the assistant commandant.
The list of nominations blocked by Tuberville has now climbed to about 250, but could rise to 600 by the end of the year, CNN reported.
“Over August and September, the staff chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, as well as Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, are expected to follow suit, leaving the organization with more temporary occupants than at any point in its history,” the New York Times said.
What is Sullivan doing and saying about this? Little to nothing.
“I’ve been having discussions with a variety of senators on that topic, to kind of let him have a vote, but also to start moving noms, too,” Sullivan told States Newsroom in mid-June.
Sullivan has used the same tactic of holding up nominations as well, blocking action on three Pentagon appointments to try to force the Biden administration to support an industrial road to the Ambler mining district. He later dropped his opposition.
In 2019, Sullivan blocked the nomination of Berger to be the commandant of the Marines, but would not say why, claiming the issue “was between me and Gen. Berger.”
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.