Tuberville’s Pentagon abortion protest criticized for national security concerns
Emily Jacobs
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Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blockade of military promotions over a dispute on the Defense Department’s abortion policy appears to be causing national security concerns.
Tuberville has held up more than 160 defense nominations since March, following four months of threats to do so. He took up the effort to protest the Pentagon’s policy of paying for the travel expenses of a service member or spouse who must go out of state for an abortion due to local laws. The rule was put into place in response to the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year.
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DOD nominees that require Senate confirmation are typically approved in batches, usually without objection, to avoid a severely prolonged process. While Tuberville lacks the power permanently to block the nominees, he can significantly delay their confirmations. Still, the senator has vowed to continue his effort until the Pentagon reverses its policy, sparking concern for defense officials about the potential national security implications.
“This political showmanship could have a serious impact on our military readiness, on our military forces, and on our national security,” a National Security Council spokesman said Friday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who leads the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee, also expressed worry in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday.
“The American people deserve to know the impacts of these holds,” Warren wrote. “I am committed to conducting vigorous oversight of military policy and decision-making, and I am concerned that these indiscriminate holds could impact military personnel around the world.”
Warren also requested a “full accounting of which positions will go unfilled and the risks” posed by leaving them vacant.
Austin sparred with Tuberville at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing late last month about the hold on nominations, telling the senator that his effort had serious national security ramifications.
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“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,” he continued. “It’s a powerful effect and will impact on our readiness.”