U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s holding up of military nominees over Defense Department policies providing abortion access for service members is “reckless” and could not come at a “worse time,” according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Right now, 160 military promotions – these are not political -- are on hold because the senior senator from Alabama is holding them up because he can’t get his way on blocking 160,000 women within the military from receiving healthcare,” Schumer said Monday on the Senate floor.
“Blocking military choices is unprecedented and it could weaken our national security,” he added.
The policies Tuberville objects to allow service members to request administrative absence for “non-covered reproductive health services,” which includes elective abortions and IVF, for themselves or to accompany their partners.
The policies also provide transportation allowances to travel to states where reproductive care is more expansive.
Among the nominations Tuberville is holding up, according to Schumer, include commanders for U.S. Naval Forces in the Pacific, Middle East and the U.S. representative to a NATO committee.
“The senator from Alabama’s hold on hundreds of routine military promotions is reckless, damages the readiness of our military and puts American security in jeopardy,” the Senate majority leader said.
If every elected official held up military nominations over policies they object to, Schumer said, “our military would simply grind to a halt.”
He said the holds risk permanently politicizing nominations and are causing “immense damage.”
“I can’t think of a worse time for a MAGA Republican to pull a stunt like this as threats against American security, against democracy, are growing around the world,” Schumer said.
He implored Tuberville’s Republican colleagues to get him to “stand down.”