By Ryan FoleyChristian Post Reporter Thursday, December 07, 2023

A month-long blockade of President Joe Biden's military appointments has ended, as the US senator who led the effort remains committed to continuing to hold the top promotions unless the Biden administration agrees to abandon its effort to fund abortion travel across state lines. for service members.Â

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., ended his block on military promotions Tuesday, nine months after he began withholding such appointments as a result of the Pentagon's policy allowing female service members to receive “travel and transportation allowances” to travel. out of state to obtain an abortion if they live in a state where the procedure is prohibited.Â

In a statement Wednesday, Tuberville's office said he narrowed the ranks to four-star generals and cleared the others for promotion after “threats” from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.

“Coach Tuberville will continue to fight the policy and stand up for the taxpayer and the unborn,” the statement said.

Tuberville told Politics that he thinks “we've seen some success” even though the Pentagon has not abandoned its abortion travel policy. He acknowledged that “we didn't get as much of it as we wanted.” He attributed his abandonment of the blockade to the fact that the US Senate is seeking to “change the rules” on military promotions.

“When they change the rules on you, I had no chance to, except possibly down the road, a lawsuit, but that has nothing to do with the holds,” Tuberville said. “That has to be done in a particular way.”

Tuberville's change of strategy comes three weeks after the Senate Rules Committee reported a resolution allow the en bloc consideration of military nominations to the full US Senate. If approved, the resolution would enable the Senate majority leader to initiate the en bloc consideration of such nominations.

At the moment, it takes the unanimous consent by the US Senate to begin considering several military appointments simultaneously. Tuberville's hold on the promotions prevented them from reaching unanimous agreement.

The resolution explains that the rule change would not apply to most senior military positions, meaning Tuberville can keep those promotions. In recent weeks, several Senate Republicans expressed concern about Tuberville's blockade, including Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Todd Young, R-Ind., and Lindsey Graham, RS.C.

The four senators went to the Senate last month to express concern about the national security implications of the holds.

The growing discomfort of Senate Republicans with prolonged holds on military appointments raised the possibility that the resolution would pass. The Senate currently consists of 51 Democrats and 49 Republicans. It would take nine Republicans to join with all the Democrats to support the resolution for it to pass

“We didn't get the win we wanted. We still have a bad policy,” Tuberville concluded. “We were trying to defend the taxpayers of this country.”

The Pentagon announced the so-called abortion travel policy in October 2022 in response to the US Supreme Court. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organizationa decision that determined that the American constitution does not contain a right to abortion. Following the Dobbs decision, several states have implemented pro-life laws.Â

According to the pro-life advocacy organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, 15 states have bans on abortion during all nine months of pregnancy, and all have exceptions in cases of danger to the life of the mother or if the baby was conceived as a result of rape or incest or had a fetal anomaly. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Pentagon justified the policy as necessary due to concerns that the Dobbs decision would affect the military's ability to “recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force.”

The memorandum establishing the policy warned that “significant numbers of Service members and their families may be forced to travel greater distances, take more time off work, and pay more out-of-pocket expenses to receive reproductive health care” because of the Dobbs ruling

President Joe Biden released a statement Tuesday expressing gratitude that “Senator Tuberville of Alabama has finally ended his politically motivated hold on hundreds of military appointments.”

“These confirmations are long overdue, and should never have been held in the first place. Our service members are the backbone of our country and deserve to receive the pay and promotions they have earned. In the end, this was pointless.”

“Senator Tuberville, and the Republicans who stood with him, needlessly injured hundreds of military and military families and threatened our national security — all to push a partisan agenda,” Biden added. “I hope no one will forget what he did.”

Tuberville claimed that the Biden administration “seems to think that taxpayer-funded abortion is more important than military appointments” because it refused his demands to eliminate the abortion travel policy.

“Democrats have spent eleven months attacking me for trying to get them to do the right thing and defend our military,” he said in a statement. “No. They didn't want any of that. They wanted their way or the highway.”