Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warned Tuesday of a potential ‘talent drain’ among the service’s officers if a single senator’s hold on senior military promotions continues.

The Army’s top civilian said mid-career officers could choose to retire early instead of facing potential issues brought by Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade on promotions for generals and admirals. Tuberville, R-Ala., has for seven months blocked normally uncontroversial procedural votes to confirm senior military officers in batches over his objection to a Pentagon policy allowing service members paid leave and expense reimbursements for travel related to reproductive health care, including abortions.

“I’m very worried about the longer-term downstream effects, which I think are growing stronger and stronger,” Wormuth said during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. “Our majors, our lieutenant colonels, our colonels are looking at this, and I think saying, ‘Do I want to put my family through this … if this is what happens when you become a general officer? Maybe I’d rather retire now and go and work in industry or work in some other area.

”

However, the , which might be helping the service weather Tuberville’s block and a recruiting crisis, Wormuth said. The military’s largest branch will miss its enlistment goal for a second straight year, and Tuberville’s hold, she argued, could deepen recruiting and retention challenges.

So far, Tuberville’s hold has ensnared more than 300 general and flag officers across the military to date, and has left the Army, Marine Corps and Navy without confirmed service chiefs.

Senate Democrats warned this week that the block could impact about 90% of the Pentagon’s generals and admirals by the end of the year.

Army Gen.

The article is not finished. Click on the next page to continue.