Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has no plans to let off his blockade of Senate approvals of military promotions following the Thanksgiving holidays, as his own party grows increasingly angry with him. Even Fox News reporters begin to criticize him.
In fact, Tuberville told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raju on Monday, the military is on his side.
"Nothing has changed," said Tuberville. "I've talked to admirals and generals, I've had people call me — I have had people call me over the holidays and say 'keep doing what you're doing, we're not having any problem.'"
Pressed for specific examples of admirals and generals who support his obstruction of military appointments, Tuberville said, “They’re people that are in the military ... it’s good to hear from people that are actually doing what they’re doing.”
Tuberville has said his blockade, which has resulted in hundreds of key military posts going unfilled or filled on an acting basis, is in protest of a Pentagon policy that allows servicemembers who need abortions to take paid leave from states where the procedure is illegal, to travel to states where it is legal — although the policy doesn't actually pay for abortions unless they are medically necessary.
Abandoning this policy would effectively make servicemembers' abortion rights dependent on where their commanding officer stations them, affecting up to 80,000 troops according to a 2022 study, and according to some experts, could make it harder to enlist or retain women in the military altogether.
In recent weeks, Tuberville has suggested the abortion policy isn't his only grievance with how the military is run, also complaining that they promote a "woke" culture.
Even a number of anti-abortion Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), are uncomfortable with the effect Tuberville's holds are having on military readiness at a moment when conflicts are raging across Ukraine and Israel, and Senate Democrats are pushing for a temporary Senate rule change that would bypass Tuberville and put all the unfilled military appointments to a vote at the same time.
On Monday evening, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced he would be bringing this rules change to the floor imminently.