How Tommy Tuberville’s Lonely Stand Rocked Washington
7th December 2023
The takeaway from Tuberville’s lonely fight is clear: if something like this can be done on similar appointments, using similar tactics, with the support of a larger portion of the conference, it could have an institution-altering effect. Senators are invested with enormous power within their body, but very few choose to use it as it can be used. They still swear by, at least on the Republican side, the old norms-based protocols that no one on the Democratic side respects. (As recently as 2020, Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth announced a hold on more than 1,100 Pentagon promotions to insist that Alexander Vindman get promoted.)