Sen. Tommy Tuberville's confirmation tantrum endangers national security

Gen. David Hilberry Berger has served in the Marine Corps since 1981. At 63, he has been a company commander during Operation Desert Storm, an instructor at multiple Marine facilities, a policy planner for the Joint Chiefs, the commander of a Marine battalion during combat in Fallujah, head of Marine operations in Kosovo, and was deployed to Afghanistan as the commanding general for the 1st Marine Division.

Since 2019, Berger has been the commandant of Marines and now, after a long and distinguished career that has seen him serve in many roles in many places, he’s ready to retire. His term as commandant is scheduled to end today. In fact, his term has to end today, because that’s the law. No member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff can serve more than four years except in times of war or national emergency.

But there’s a problem: No one has been named to replace Berger. Or rather, someone has been named: Gen. Eric Smith, a two-time winner of the distinguished service medal whose career also stretches back to Desert Storm. It’s just that Smith can’t be promoted to commandant because one person, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, is holding the American military hostage.