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Air Force Chief of Staff nominee says Sen. Tuberville's blockade hurts recruiting, retention

At a Senate confirmation hearing, Tuberville himself never mentioned the fact that his own actions have blocked more than 300 senior officers' promotions.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate blockade on more than 300 senior military officers' promotions continued Tuesday, with no end in sight.

Air Force Chief of Staff nominee General David Allvin on Tuesday had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

But Allvin's nomination, along with the others, is currently being blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), over Tuberville's opposition to the Defense Department's abortion travel policy.

Tuberville never mentioned the dispute.

But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) did.

She asked: "General Allvin, does this block on promotions for top military leaders help or hurt our ability to recruit and retain service members?"

Allvin replied: "While we don't have specific hard data, my experience and my personal judgement says that this does hurt recruiting and retention."

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) called the on-going situation "embarrassing."

But Sen. Tom Cotton (R- Arkansas) said the fault lies with Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York), who Cotton said could simply make the impasse go away, simply by holding individual votes on each nominee.

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