It was just last week when literally every living former Pentagon chief from the past quarter-century — including two former Republican members of the Senate — signed on to a joint statement to Senate leaders with a simple message: Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is hurting the military with his blockade on military promotions.
They were hardly alone. For months, all kinds of officials have tried to convince the far-right Alabama senator to be more responsible. He’s ignored them.
This morning, Democratic leaders released a new letter from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said the Republican senator’s tactic poses a “clear risk” to the nation’s military readiness and directly affects the lives of service members’ families.
This afternoon, as Politico reported, even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he disapproves of Tuberville’s approach.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell split from one of his own Republicans on Wednesday over halting quick approval of military promotions — evidence of some discomfort within the Senate GOP over the ongoing blockade. … “No, I don’t support putting a hold on military nominations. I don’t support that. As to why, you need to ask Sen. Tuberville,” McConnell told reporters on Wednesday.
When NPR in Alabama asked the senator to explain his position, Tuberville said he feels justified. Here’s what he told WBHM’s Richard Banks:
“Well, it goes back to one thing that I talked about, legislating from the White House and from the Department of Defense. We’ve had an abortion policy. This is not about abortion. We’ve had abortions for years in the military. We have a law in this country called the Hyde Amendment that says taxpayer money will not be used for abortions, because some people believe in it, some people don’t. Again, this is a change in the policy from the White House.”
In case anyone needs a refresher, let’s revisit our recent coverage to review how we arrived at this point.
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