As the standoff continues between the Biden Administration and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) continues, the White House refuses to consider ending a controversial abortion policy in the military that could lead to Senator Tuberville ending his blockade of military promotions.
As the Daily Caller reports, Senator Tuberville first began his one-man campaign in March, holding up all further military promotions and appointments over a Department of Defense (DOD) policy that reimburses female servicemembers for out-of-state travel to get an abortion.
The Biden White House has repeatedly claimed that Tuberville’s actions are risking national security, as nearly 400 nominations have been put on hold as a result of Tuberville’s blockade. But Tuberville says that all the power to end the standoff lies with the White House.
In a recent interview with the Daily Caller, Tuberville was asked if the White “could have all of this taken care of in a moment,” to which the Senator replied “it’s a two-way street.”
“And I told them ‘listen, here’s what we do,” Tuberville explained. “You move the policy back and if you move the policy back, send [Congress] what you want us to vote on, and we’ll vote on it. And whichever way it goes, it’s fine. But I’d take the hold off no matter which way the vote goes.’”
“But they don’t want to do that,” Tuberville continued. “They want to, they want to dictate from the White House, this executive overreach that the American people don’t deserve.”
In the roughly eight months since Tuberville’s campaign began, the senator has spoken about the matter with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin only “a handful of times,” according to Tuberville’s press secretary, Hannah Eddins. But the Biden Administration has repeatedly criticized Tuberville, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying on Wednesday that “it’s a risk to our military readiness, it’s hurting our military families, and certainly we strongly disapprove of this and we have been very loud and very clear about our thoughts on what he is doing here.”
Tuberville has suggested that the Senate try to pass some of the held-up military nominations by using “regular order” instead of always turning to unanimous consent. But recently, even some Republicans have turned against Tuberville. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) declared that Tuberville’s efforts are “a national security suicide mission.”
But other Republicans have continued to express their support for Tuberville, including Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah).
“President Biden could resume Pentagon promotions today if he simply instructed Secretary Austin to stop violating the clear purpose and intent of federal law by funding abortion travel,” said Lee. “To my knowledge, the White House has made no attempt to work with Senator Tuberville or alter [Department of Defense] policies, because their top priority is forcing taxpayers to pay for abortion tourism instead of promoting officers. This is a dilemma of their own making.”