Lloyd Austin slams Tuberville’s abortion-related holds on Pentagon nominations
Mike Brest
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) squared off on Tuesday over the latter’s decision to hold up all defense nominations due to the former’s policies following the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Tuberville began blocking all civilian, flag, and general officer nominations as well as high-level promotions within the Pentagon last month due to the Pentagon’s policy of paying for the travel expenses of a service member or spouse who has to go out of state for an abortion due to local laws.
TUBERVILLE FOLLOWS THROUGH WITH THREAT TO BLOCK PENTAGON APPOINTMENTS FOLLOWING ABORTION ACCESS PUSH
The defense secretary met with the Senate Armed Services Committee, which Tuberville is a member of, on Tuesday, and both addressed the Alabama senator’s hold on nominees.
“The effects are absolutely critical in terms of the impact on the force,” the secretary said. “This is one of the busiest times or one of the most complex times that we’ve seen lately. We see a war, the largest conflict in Europe since World War II. We see an aggressive China operating in the Indo-Pacific. We see Iranian-backed elements going after our troops, and there are a number of things happening globally that indicate that we could be in a contest in any one given day.”
“Not approving the recommendation for promotions actually creates a ripple effect through the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be. So the effects are cumulative, and it will affect families. … It’s a powerful effect and will impact on our readiness,” he said.
Austin announced the updated policy last month after about a dozen Republican-led states passed laws to roll back abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Approximately 40% of female service members do not have or have limited access to abortion services where they live or are stationed currently following the Supreme Court’s ruling, according to a Rand study published in September 2022. Women make up slightly less than one-fifth of the military, while roughly 80,000 of them serve in states that have implemented or will soon implement additional abortion restrictions.
During his allotted time to question the experts at the hearing, Tuberville said his hold “is about not forcing the taxpayers of this country to fund abortion,” adding, “Y’all got the American taxpayer on the hook to pay for travel and time off for elective abortion, and you did not make this with anybody in this room.”
“I’m not going to let our military be politicized,” the senator from Alabama said. “I want our military to be the strongest and the deadliest it has ever been. But I also want the administration to follow the law, as long as I have a voice in this body, Congress will write the laws, not secretary of defense, not the Joint Chiefs.”
Tuberville held up two civilian nominations, one of whom will get a floor vote this week, and 158 generals and flag officers, according to Tuberville’s office.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) accused Tuberville of “reckless” behavior that “damages the readiness of our military and puts American security in jeopardy.”
DOD nominees are often approved in batches without objections, though Schumer does have the ability to circumnavigate some of Tuberville’s blocks through additional procedural maneuverings.