Tuberville's military blockade shows how far McConnell has fallen: columnist

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has spoken critically of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for putting a total blockade on confirming military appointments and promotions — but he doesn't appear willing or able to actually do anything about it.

And Tuberville "thumbing his nose" at the leadership is a sign that McConnell's once-legendary mastery and power over Senate institutions is slipping, argued Eleanor Clift for The Daily Beast on Wednesday.

"McConnell in his prime would have ended the Alabama senator’s siege in a millisecond. He told reporters in early May, four months ago, he didn’t support what Tuberville is doing," wrote Clift. "In the old days, before he suffered multiple falls and other health episodes signaled his vulnerability, those few words would have been treated as a command handed down from the mountaintop."

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Tuberville is blocking military votes to try to force an end to a Pentagon policy that allows servicemembers to take paid leave to travel to states where abortion is legal, though the policy doesn't pay for abortions themselves. Other senators have put major confirmation holds in place, noted Clift — "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blocked all of President Biden’s State Department nominees for months beginning in 2021, until Biden reimposed sanctions on the sale of gas from the Russian pipeline, Nord Stream 2." However, the size and scope of Tuberville's blockade is unprecedented, and "many Republican senators think he’s taken his stand too far."

All of this comes as McConnell suffers from health scares, including an incident last week in which he froze up during a press conference. He was medically cleared to resume Senate duties by a Capitol Hill physician and blames that incident on "lightheadedness," although CNN's Dr. Jonathan Reiner has said that is dubious.

"The mighty have fallen. McConnell is no longer invincible, and it’s a rube like Tuberville that has driven that point home," concluded Clift. "It’s hard to see what McConnell gains by letting Tuberville go on. If it’s merely to score points with culture warriors, that only underscores McConnell’s weakness in confronting an increasingly dangerous situation — one that he should have dismissed with a few well-chosen words months ago."