Statement from Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet in Response to Release of Military Promotions Block

December 5, 2023

Today Americans learned that progress has reportedly been made in overcoming a nearly year-long hold on military promotions by Sen. Tuberville as a means to score a political win. If reports are true, he will now narrow his focus toward the few pending four-star nominees as a way to continue his campaign, unrelated to the qualifications by these top officers to hold their next posts.

Over the course of this ill-advised stunt, Sen. Tuberville’s actions have harmed national security by causing enormous, force-wide, cascading effects that impacted planning and operations, and placed countless military families into hardship, around the world. Many military families strongly told us in a survey this summer that this promotion block has caused them to reconsider their perspective on military service, decreasing their willingness to recommend military service to others or even remain in military service themselves.

We commend those senators of both parties who have worked to approve Blue Star Families-backed legislation to end the holds and called for the senator to put an end to his campaign.

America cannot continue on such a course when one senator can unilaterally do such harm to our national security. Hence, Blue Star Families calls on Senate leaders to immediately bring to an end all remaining military holds unrelated to their qualifications for promotion or command, and to establish failsafe processes to keep this from happening again.