House Republicans with Military Backgrounds Target Senator Tuberville’s Holds

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is now facing criticism from Republican veterans in the House of Representatives for his military holds, including one who recently urged him to rescind his one-man showdown against the Pentagon.

Rep. Brandon Williams, a first-term Republican from New York and former nuclear submarine officer in the Navy, said Friday he visited Tuberville 2 1/2 months ago to discuss his holds on promotions.

“I went and sat in Sen. Tuberville’s office for about 45 minutes until he had an opening and would see me, and we had a very frank conversation about it,” Williams said at a press conference. “At the time, I was led to believe that it wouldn’t last much longer. And here we are 2 1/2 months later. And we certainly don’t seem to be any closer.”

Navy veteran Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., also requested a meeting with Tuberville.

“He had mentioned that these are not officers who are warfighters, that these are desk jockeys in the Pentagon. But the reality is these folks have been warfighters for 20 years,” Garcia said. “These are the folks that I flew with in combat operations. And they’re looking to continue that service, and they’re being compelled not to because of Sen. Tuberville.”

Tuberville’s protest against the Pentagon’s abortion policy, which reimburses service members their travel expenses and gives them time off to seek an abortion, is at the center of the issue. Tuberville believes the policy violates federal law, so he has imposed a unanimous consent hold on over 300 promotions across the armed services.

Tuberville has maintained his position and has criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., shifting the spotlight onto him and saying that Schumer only needs to bring in each nomination to the floor for a vote.

“This could be handled very easily,” Tuberville told Newsmax on Tuesday. “Chuck Schumer, just bring them to the floor. Let’s confirm them. Let’s work a little bit around here. Don’t worry about anything other than work and get the job done for the American people. … They can do them one at a time.”

Regarding the policy itself, Politico reported Friday — citing data from the Pentagon — that very few service members actually use the abortion policy that Tuberville is standing against.

Tuberville’s office had a simple response to that: “The Pentagon’s claims about the policy being critically necessary to recruiting … are factually baseless, and they can drop the policy,” Steven Stafford, a spokesperson for Tuberville, told Politico. “This cuts both ways.”