White House urges Senate GOP to push Tuberville on military nominations delay.

National Security Council Calls on Senate Republicans to Resolve Impasse Over Military Promotions

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has urged Senate Republicans to take action and help find a way forward as Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) continues to block the promotions of around 250 senior military officers. Tuberville’s objection stems from his disagreement with the Defense Department’s abortion policy.

“We certainly urge and encourage other members of the Senate on the Republican side to put enough pressure on Sen. Tuberville to get him to lift his hold,” Kirby emphasized during an interview on CNN. “I’m grateful for the work other Republican senators have done to try to find a way through this.”

Impasse Impacting Readiness

Kirby stressed the need to break the impasse, as it is already having extended effects on military readiness. “There needs to be a break in this impasse because it is, again, it’s already had extended effects on our readiness,” he added.

Tuberville argues that the policy, implemented in response to the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, violates a federal law that restricts federal funding of abortions to cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life of the mother.

Efforts to Resolve the Dispute

Several senior Republicans on the Armed Services Committee have attempted to resolve the dispute by proposing a vote on the Pentagon’s abortion policy. However, Tuberville has reiterated his stance, stating that he will continue to block the nominations of general and flag officers until the policy is dropped.

“I will keep my hold until the Pentagon follows the law [or] Congress changes the law. That’s the way we do it here in the Senate,” Tuberville declared during a speech on the Senate floor. “A ‘show vote’ in committee is not good enough. We can do that all we want. It’s not going to make any difference. An amendment that gets stripped out on the floor by Sen. Schumer is not good enough.”

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), the No. 4 Republican in the Senate, proposed a bill in March to reverse the policy and suggested a committee vote on the measure as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. However, Tuberville has not been receptive to this proposal.

Impact on Military Families and Readiness

Kirby emphasized that Tuberville’s hold on the nominees is negatively affecting military families and readiness. “What you do is you freeze certain commands, and you freeze certain organizations the way they are, and you stop having the ability of some of these generals and some of these admirals to move on,” Kirby explained. “If some of them end up retiring, then their replacements are going to be in activating capacities, and they may not have all the right authorities that they need in terms of executing the duties of those jobs, not to mention the immense disruption that this is going to have on military families. You know, summertime is our biggest move time.”

Tuberville, however, maintains that the impact on military readiness has been exaggerated by Democrats and the White House. “These military positions are being fulfilled by acting officials. These jobs are being done right now. They’re not empty,” he argued.

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