Senator Tommy Tuberville a Republican from Alabama has blocked the approval of scores of nominations to the Army and Marine Corps . The Senate can still vote on nominees individually but the hold means they cannot be quickly approved in groups by unanimous consent .
The delay in approving the nominations is negatively impacting military families as they are unable to plan for things such as school for their children given the uncertainty about where they will be living . The US Supreme Court in June struck down the nationwide right to abortion meaning troops stationed in places that restricted or banned the procedure must now take leave and travel to areas where it is legal to obtain one .
The problem is set to worsen as other top officers are leaving office soon including Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley . The Marine Corps commandant stepped down on July and the general nominated to replace him has been performing two jobs vice commandant and head of the service for nearly a month .
The Pentagon has developed policies which were released in February to allow service members to take administrative absences to receive noncovered reproductive health care and to establish travel allowances to help them cover costs . The Defense Department has been directed to develop policies which have been released in recent months to help cover costs for service members who have previously been unable to pay for the services to cover the costs of an abortion .
The military has been given an allowance to cover for those who want to avoid the cost of their services to help to cover up for their own medical expenses. The Pentagon had been directed in February . The Department of Defense has now developed policies that were released to allow for service service members .
The policies were released by the Defense Department to provide service members with an accommodation to cover their own .
