Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., attends a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
(Tribune News Service) — Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley criticized Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s months-long hold on military nominations Tuesday, calling it “shameful.”
Haley, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, spoke on the Hugh Hewitt Show, according to The Hill.
“It goes to the heart of, we don’t treat our military men and women, servicemen and women well. We don’t treat our veterans well,” Haley said.
Attempts by AL.com to reach Tuberville’s office for comment were not immediately successful. NBC News quoted Tuberville spokesman Steven Stafford, who said he didn’t view Haley’s comments as criticism.
“She regrets that it is necessary but doesn’t seem to dispute that it is indeed necessary.”
President Joe Biden last month, as well as a growing chorus of Democrats, have called on Alabama’s senior senator to end his hold on military nominations. Tuberville initiated the stand in March, keeping more than 250 high-ranking military nominees in the Senate from receiving promotions.
The hold comes in response to a Defense Department policy to pay the travel expenses of service members traveling to other states for abortions. He says his tactic is within his rights as a senator, and that Defense policies can only be implemented through Congress.
Haley, whose husband is currently in a yearlong deployment in Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard, said she agreed that the Pentagon’s policy is “totally wrong.” While she can “appreciate what Tuberville’s trying to do,” she said “there’s got to be other ways to go about doing this.”
There are currently two military services without a confirmed leader, after the head of the Marine Corps retired last month and the head of the Army retired last week without replacements.
Haley said the hold is doing damage to recruiting efforts.
“They look at the fact that 33,000 veterans are homeless,” she said. “They look at the fact that they’re, you know, dangling these promotions out there and using them as fodder. I mean, they’re looking at the fact that people don’t see these, you know, men and women who serve as heroes anymore.”
Haley in July said the third in a series of Republican presidential debates will be held in Alabama in October. That has yet to be confirmed.
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