Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) has placed a hold on the promotion of an Air Force colonel advocating for military promotions based on race and gender, not merit.
Col. George H. Sebren, who has been recommended for promotion to Brigadier General in the Air Force, authored a 2017 research paper lamenting the creation of “a general officer cohort that severely lacks diversity.” He argues that Air Force promotions are inherently racist and sexist because they were not promoting the correct percentage of officers who were non-white or female.
That does not sit well with Banks, who has fought wokeness since arriving in Washington.
“Senator Banks has serious concerns about military officers who have championed DEI and wokeness in the military and has exercised his authority as a senator to place a hold on this promotion,” a Banks spokesperson told Breitbart News.
A hold on a nomination is a communication to the majority or minority leader that a Senator would object to approving the nomination by unanimous consent. In the modern Senate, where the calendar is one of the greatest impediments, most military promotions are confirmed through unanimous consent to bypass the timely process required under regular order.
A single objection, as the name suggests, prohibits the unanimous consent process from going forward. Except in rare circumstances, Senators defer to their leaders to bring unanimous consent requests to advance military nominees for higher rank, and leaders respect holds placed by their members.