Appointing a new committee member would require unanimous consent. Generally that’s easy - it’s a procedural step and the party in majority will ultimately get their way, so senators all give consent so they can get back to doing some actual work on the senate floor. But some first-term far-right republicans are withholding unanimous consent now, forcing the senate to decide if they want to waste days debating so they can vote, or just move on to something else.
Eg, Senior military promotions require senate approval, and it’s typically a matter dealt with in a few minutes because the promotions are given unanimous consent. Senator Tuberville is a first-term MAGA Republican and an anti-abortion zealot. For months now, he has been blocking military promotions, demanding that the pentagon reverse their decision to allow service members to travel out-of-state if they require reproductive healthcare. Even if the other 99 senators approve of the promotions, to take a vote they would need to table it, go to committee, debate it, avoid a filibuster, and ultimately vote on it. So a task that should take minutes can instead turn up the senate for days or weeks, preventing the senate from getting anything else done in that time.
I don’t think they can prevent a new member being seated when they’re the minority.
Appointing a new committee member would require unanimous consent. Generally that’s easy - it’s a procedural step and the party in majority will ultimately get their way, so senators all give consent so they can get back to doing some actual work on the senate floor. But some first-term far-right republicans are withholding unanimous consent now, forcing the senate to decide if they want to waste days debating so they can vote, or just move on to something else.
Eg, Senior military promotions require senate approval, and it’s typically a matter dealt with in a few minutes because the promotions are given unanimous consent. Senator Tuberville is a first-term MAGA Republican and an anti-abortion zealot. For months now, he has been blocking military promotions, demanding that the pentagon reverse their decision to allow service members to travel out-of-state if they require reproductive healthcare. Even if the other 99 senators approve of the promotions, to take a vote they would need to table it, go to committee, debate it, avoid a filibuster, and ultimately vote on it. So a task that should take minutes can instead turn up the senate for days or weeks, preventing the senate from getting anything else done in that time.