Schumer urges McConnell to pressure Tuberville to stop military blockade
Emily Jacobs
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Wednesday that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) should use his authority as head of his conference to pressure Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to end his monthslong hold on Pentagon confirmations.
Tuberville has been embroiled in conflict with the Biden administration for months over his hold on senior military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy, which pays for the travel costs and time off of service members who must travel out of state to receive an abortion due to restrictive laws. The move has blocked the nominations of over 300 general and flag officers.
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“You know, Republicans have always prided themselves on being the national security party, and yet, that’s right, they are letting Tuberville do this,” Schumer told MSNBC on Wednesday morning. “If he had their whole caucus, if the rest of them said, ‘Stop, we demand you stop,’ he would have to stop. Now, McConnell and Thune have said what he’s doing is wrong, but that’s it.”
“Let me tell you, the power of a leader is enormous. If one of my Democrats was doing this, I’d call him into my office and I’d say, ‘You are going to stop doing this, or you’re going to pay a price.’ And there are a lot of ways a leader can make you pay that price,” he continued. “McConnell has not done this with Tuberville, so part of the responsibility for this, even though he does care about national security, is on his shoulders. He ought to do it.”
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The Alabama senator’s Pentagon abortion fight, which has gone on since February, appears to have no resolution in sight. The Defense Department enacted the rule Tuberville is protesting last year in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed nationwide abortion access for nearly half a century.
DOD nominees who require Senate confirmation are typically approved in batches, usually without objection, to avoid a severely prolonged process. While Tuberville lacks the power to permanently block the nominees, he can significantly delay their confirmations. The first-term senator has vowed to continue his effort until the Pentagon reverses its policy, sparking bipartisan concern over the implications of leaving so many high-level positions unfilled.
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McConnell has distanced himself from Tuberville’s actions, telling reporters in May, “I don’t support putting a hold on military nominations. I don’t support that.”
Biden and administration officials have lambasted the Tuberville blockade as detrimental to military readiness and overall national security, something the GOP senator has pushed back on, arguing that Democratic leadership can simply bring the nominees up for individual floor votes.