In the Marine Corps, chain of command is everything — for better or for worse. In Congress, I’ve never been shy about criticizing our military leaders. But at the end of the day, these officers are patriots, ready to do what they do best: maintain order and readiness, train hard, and be exemplary leaders.
But right now, one man’s selfish political stunt is leaving the Corps without a leader for the first time in 164 years. And it’s not just the Marines being affected — Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, is single-handedly blocking hundreds of high-level military promotions across our armed forces, risking American military readiness and endangering our national security.
Without quality leadership, our service members are left high and dry.
For decades, the Senate has confirmed high-ranking military promotions, as is their duty. Mindful of the high stakes, they’ve done so quickly in a bipartisan manner through unanimous consent — until now, thanks to Tuberville’s stubborn protest that has ground the Senate’s nomination process to a halt.
And worse yet, Tuberville’s stunt is purely political. He’s leaving the Marines leaderless not because he disagrees with who’s being promoted, but because he opposes a Pentagon policy that helps American servicewomen access abortions.
Air Force Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown, the president’s nominee as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned this week that the military “will lose talent” if Tuberville’s blockade continues. Less experienced deputies may have to fill leadership roles temporarily, he told lawmakers, and talented junior officers may be more likely to leave.
Without quality leadership, our service members are left high and dry. I would know.
In Iraq, I learned that even the best get killed, and that quality leadership can be the key difference between coming home dead and coming home alive.
Marines are the people you call when things are bad. We worked in the worst parts of Iraq during the worst parts of the war. As a result, I lost some of my best friends.
This man’s closest run-in with our armed forces was losing the 2014 Military Bowl. And Tuberville’s political grandstanding does nothing but put even more lives at risk. While these delays and unprecedented vacancies diminish the strength of our officers’ corps, the people Tuberville’s tantrum will ultimately hurt the most are the men and women who have sacrificed everything to serve. I’m talking about the 18- and 19-year-olds who enlisted for the same reasons I did all those years ago: to give back to their country and to make something of themselves. We weren’t the ones making decisions. We weren’t the ones ordering Marines. We were the grunts. We went where we were told when we were told. And we turned to our noncommissioned officers and our commissioned officers for their guidance and orders. They’re the ones hurting most from Tuberville’s flagrant abuse of procedural power. This man’s closest run-in with our armed forces was losing the 2014 Military Bowl. Now he not only wants to tell women in the military what they can and cannot do with their bodies, but he’s also willing to put them, their peers and our entire country in danger because of it. In my time in Washington, I’ve learned there are two types of politicians: those who serve this country and those who serve themselves. The hundreds of thousands of active-duty Marines currently left without leadership are 10 times the public servant Tuberville will ever be.
Rep. Ruben Gallego
Rep. Ruben Gallego represents Arizona's 3rd congressional district in the House of Representatives. 
