Congress is gearing up to pass legislation to financially compensate U.S. military members affected by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s promotion holds but, unsurprisingly, it does nothing for those who were unfairly punished for forgoing the Covid jab.
Introduced by Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the Military Personnel Confirmation Restoration Act seeks to provide back pay to military officials whose promotions were delayed as result of Tuberville’s protest of the Pentagon’s unlawful abortion policy. After the Defense Department began using U.S. taxpayer dollars to subsidize service members’ travel expenses to get abortions earlier this year, the Alabama senator initiated holds on Biden’s military nominees that slowed the Senate confirmation process for these nominees.
Tuberville was all but forced to abandon most of his holds earlier this month after his GOP colleagues threatened to side with Senate Democrats in changing Senate rules to skirt the protest.
When introducing the bill, Rounds issued a statement claiming that while he disagrees with the Pentagon’s abortion policy and supports Tuberville’s “right to hold any nomination,” he believes America’s “men and women in uniform should not be caught in the middle of partisan politics.” Manchin echoed similar sentiments, stating that “the least we can do in Congress is restore the benefits they have earned and deserve.”
According to a Punchbowl News report published on Thursday, the Rounds-Manchin bill has purportedly garnered 37 co-sponsors and could receive Senate approval before the upper chamber departs for Christmas break. Contrast the Senate’s eagerness
