Sen. Tuberville Lifts Hold on Hundreds of Military Promotions

Facts

• Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) ended his nine-month long protest against the Pentagon's abortion policy on Tuesday, releasing all holds on military promotions except for four-star generals.¹
• The Senate, which otherwise would’ve had to hold a vote on each individual nominee, proceeded to approve more than 400 military confirmations just a few hours after he emerged from a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP senators to announce his decision to reporters.²
• He initially blocked military promotions in February in protest against a Pentagon policy to reimburse military personnel traveling out of state to access reproductive healthcare needs. The policy was implemented in the wake of SCOTUS' overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.³
• Sen. Tuberville experienced pressure from both sides of the aisle, facing the threat of a resolution to permit military nominations to be confirmed en masse. A floor vote would have allowed Democrats to steamroll his holds, while forcing Republicans to choose between military officers and anti-abortion activists.⁴
• Tuberville has argued that his about-face is connected to his exclusion from talks on the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which he considered a possible route to forcing the Pentagon to end its internal abortion travel policy.⁵
• As he has maintained his hold on four-star nominations, 11 top posts in the military remain in limbo. These include the commanders of the Pacific Fleet, Pacific Air Forces, Air Combat Command, Northern Command, Cyber Command, and Space Command.⁶

Sources: ¹FOX News, ²Associated Press, ³CBS, ⁴Politico, ⁵Roll Call and ⁶Defense One.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Slate. Tuberville’s decision to enact these holds was all grandstanding. Had he been a principled protestor of the Pentagon’s abortion policy, he would have stood firm in the face of the Senate possibly changing its rules to get around him, and many of his Republican colleagues refusing to back his actions. In the end, Tuberville put national security at risk so he could use military promotions as a weapon in his culture war.
• Republican narrative, as provided by The Wall Street Journal. The Democrats are the ones who utilized these military holds as part of their culture war. All the Biden administration had to do was drop the preposterous provision that allows the Pentagon to pay for abortions — which has nothing to do with national security — and it would’ve been business as usual. Their threat to forever change Senate rules was the only thing that forced Tuberville, who acted entirely on principle, to relent.

Predictions