Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., attends a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on July 12, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
(Tribune News Service) — Critics of Sen. Tommy Tuberville are blasting the Alabama Republican after a statement Sunday that he won’t relent on his blockade of military promotions despite the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Democrats over the weekend said it was time to break the logjam of about 300 promotions bottled up in the Senate as Tuberville protests the Defense Department’s reproductive healthcare policy.
Tuberville spokesperson Steve Stafford said in a statement to NBC News that the situation could be ended if the Pentagon ended “their illegal and immoral policy.”
“The Pentagon clearly thinks forcing taxpayers to facilitate abortion is more important than confirming their top nominees without a vote,” Stafford said. “If the Biden administration wants their nominees confirmed then Senate Democrats can do what Coach just did in September and file a cloture petition to force a vote.”
Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said the “severity of the crisis in Israel underscores the foolishness of Senator Tuberville’s blockade.”
“The United States needs seamless military leadership in place to handle dangerous situations like this and Senator Tuberville is denying it,” he said, according to Politico. “This is no time for petty political theater, and I again urge Republican colleagues to help actively end Senator Tuberville’s damaging blockade. The time for talking is over.”
Among those promotions awaiting action are Adm. Lisa Franchetti, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the Navy’s top officer, and Gen. David Allvin, nominated to lead the Air Force, both performing those jobs on an acting basis.
In September, Tuberville moved to force a vote on Marine Commandant nominee Gen. Eric M. Smith.
Tuberville contends that Democrats could call each of the hundreds of nominations for individual votes, which Democrats say would take hundreds of hours of floor time.
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