For the first time in history, three different branches of the U.S. military do not have a Senate-confirmed leader as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) continues to block routine military appointments in a protest against Pentagon policies on abortion. On Monday, retiring Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday gave up his command, meaning that the Navy joins the Marine Corps and Army in having no confirmed leader. “This is unprecedented,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a relinquishment ceremony at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. “It is unnecessary. And it is unsafe.” Tuberville has blocked hundreds of military nominations from progressing over what he perceives as the government’s misuse of funds to cover travel costs for service members and their dependents seeking abortions.
