Through no fault of his own, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced on Tuesday that he’s dropping most of his months-long protest of the Pentagon’s unlawful abortion policy. The revelation came after weeks of threats from his GOP colleagues to side with Senate Democrats to change Senate rules that skirt the holds.
“We did the right thing for the unborn and for our military, fighting back against executive overreach and an abortion policy that’s not legal,” Tuberville said during a Tuesday press conference. “Sen. Chuck Schumer changed the rules on us. … And when you change the rules, it’s hard to beat somebody. … With that being said, I’m not gonna hold the promotions of these people any longer.”
The Alabama senator’s protest began earlier this year following the Defense Department’s implementation of a policy using U.S. taxpayer dollars to pay for service members’ abortion-related travel expenses. Tuberville subsequently used his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee to slow-walk votes on President Biden’s military nominees in protest. Rather than allow the committee to confirm a large number of military nominations “en masse,” the GOP senator’s protest forced the body to vote on each nomination one at a time.
During Tuesday’s presser, Tuberville confirmed he would drop his holds on all promotions except for those of four-star nominees.
In addition to facing attacks from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats — who, despite possessing the power to bring these nominations to the floor for individual confirmation, have baselessly claimed the Alabama
