Schumer Offers Tuberville Abortion Vote Amid Military Blockade

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is willing to hold a vote to repeal the Pentagon’s abortion policy in a move to appease Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who has blocked military nominations over the plan.

“The bottom line is that if he wants to have an affirmative vote, we would not object to it,” Schumer said during a Wednesday press conference. “Tuberville said he wanted a vote; we’ll see what happens.”

Tuberville has blocked hundreds of military promotions in protest of new Pentagon policies on reproductive health care, which includes an allowance for service members who must travel out of state to get an abortion. His actions have held up several high-profile roles, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commandant of the Marine Corps.

More than 260 nominations are being stalled by Tuberville.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is sponsoring legislation to repeal the Pentagon’s abortion policy.

President Joe Biden last week called on Republicans to “stand up” to Tuberville and said he would be “willing to talk to him if I thought there was any possibility he would change his ridiculous position on this.”

“He’s jeopardizing U.S. security with what he’s doing,” Biden said during a news conference in Helsinki.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a member of the Armed Services Committee, believes Ernst’s bill, should that be the legislation that comes to the floor, would fail, at which point he said Tuberville needs to let the issue go.

“At that point, when you’ve lost, you shouldn’t take your disappointment out on the hundreds of military officers serving their country who had nothing to do with the policy,” he told the Washington Examiner.

“I’ve offered amendments where I failed,” he added. “And then I just got to get more persuasive, but I don’t try to stand in the way of patriotic people who are trying to serve.”