Block on Defense Promotions Over Pentagon’s Travel for Abortion Policy Gains Support

Hold on to your hats, folks! Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has blocked 184 military promotions requested by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) due to his objections to the Pentagon’s new abortion policy. This Republican senator has been holding up all civilian nominations and military promotions of general and flag officers for months now, until the Department of Defense (DOD) rescinds its policy to facilitate taxpayer-funded abortions. Tuberville argues that the policy, announced last October in a memo, has diverted the DOD’s attention and turned it into an abortion travel agency.

On Monday, Warren took the issue to the Senate floor, arguing that Tuberville’s blockage on Senate confirmations for nearly all military leadership is dangerous and reckless at a time of heightened military tension around the world and in Eastern Europe. She pointed out that one senator is personally standing in the way of promotions for 184 of our top-level military leaders, holding up pay raises for men and women in uniform, and jeopardizing America’s national security.

Warren requested unanimous consent for the Senate to immediately consider the confirmation of Shoshana Chatfield to serve as a vice admiral and to represent America to the NATO military committee. “At this critical juncture of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, we need her leadership in NATO now more than ever,” Warren said.

But Tuberville stood up to reject Warren’s request, stating that the Pentagon’s policy is a violation of federal law and explaining that his blockage is about “a tyrannical executive branch walking all over the United States Senate and doing our jobs” and not about abortion. He warned Secretary Lloyd Austin that if he did this and changed the policy, he would put a hold on his highest-level nominees. Secretary Austin went through with the policy anyway in February of this year, so Tuberville is keeping his word.

21 GOP Congressmen Support Tuberville

Tuberville received support from 21 GOP members of Congress, who signed a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso. In the letter, the 21 GOP members of Congress said that the DOD’s new policy represents a significant shift that violates the spirit of the law and congressional intent that U.S. taxpayers should not fund elective abortion.

“This policy was implemented unilaterally by Secretary Austin without Congress holding a single hearing or taking a vote,” the letter said. The lawmakers further claimed that the Biden administration is trying to force abortion politics into every avenue of American life, including the military.

“The DOD’s memorandum entitled, ‘Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care,’ has turned DOD into an abortion travel agency, directing the focus of our armed forces away from readiness and emerging threats and toward the president’s progressive social agenda,” the letter states.

The lawmakers are standing up for what they believe in, and it remains to be seen how this will all play out. Stay tuned for more updates!