(TheRedAlertNews.com) – For the first time in history, the two ground combat forces of the US military, the Army and the Marine Corps, are without leaders confirmed by the US Senate, leading Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to sound the alarm.
The unprecedented situation occurred after the US Army’s chief, Gen. James McConville, stepped down last Friday.
The reason the new commanders of the Army and the Marines remain unconfirmed by the Senate is connected with the Biden Defense Department’s bizarre venturing into “social justice” and “culture war” policies.
Namely, a decision to use US taxpayer money to pay for female service members’ abortion trips to other states if the state they are stationed in has banned the murder of unborn infants.
Because of the fully-funded out-of-state abortion trips the leftist Pentagon leadership adopted after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, a key Republican US senator has been blocking the Biden administration’s appointments of new Army and Marine Corps leaders.
Senate Armed Services Committee member Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has stopped over 300 military nominations because of the Pentagon’s pro-abortionist stance.
Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin insisted that the Army and Marines’ troop readiness and retention were now at risk, AP reports, as cited by Newsmax.
In a speech during a Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall ceremony, Austin insisted the failure to confirm the new leaders caused disruption and hurt America’s alliances around the globe.
“Today, for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, two of our services will be operating without Senate-confirmed leadership. Great teams need great leaders, and that’s central to maintaining the full might of the most lethal fighting force on earth,” he declared.
The Biden administration has nominated Gen. Randy George, the Army’s current vice chief, to replace McConville and Marine Gen. Eric Smith to take over the Marine Corps.
Both George and Smith now serve as “acting” chiefs. Still, they cannot take actions that presume Senate confirmation, such as moving into the main residences or offices, issuing official planning guidance, or assuming all budgeting powers.
“I am not stopping anyone from getting confirmed, and I am not stopping anyone from voting. Democrats could simply put these nominations up for a vote, but they clearly don’t want to,” GOP Senator Tuberville reacted.
Troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army's chief stepped down Friday, leaving the military's two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history. https://t.co/dyyrkBpzfY https://t.co/dyyrkBpzfY
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) August 6, 2023
