(DCWatchdog.com) – A Republican US senator has been forced to admit defeat in his resistance to liberal policies at the US Department of Defense after he had to lift his hold on military promotions as the Democrats prepared to change Senate rules in order to circumvent his veto.
Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has announced his decision to give up blocking military promotions, concluding his prolonged endeavor to influence the Pentagon’s pro-abortion policy.
Since February, Tuberville had been obstructing Senate votes on military nominees in response to the Pentagon’s policy granting service members access to abortion services while on duty, including by using US taxpayer money to pay for abortion trips to a different state.
This blockade affected over 400 military nominees, prompting bipartisan calls for him to rethink his position.
During a private meeting on Capitol Hill, Tuberville reportedly concurred with Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) to withdraw his objections to the promotions for three-star officers and those of lower ranks.
These officer ranks represent the majority of the nominees, National Review reports.
However, the GOP US senator is maintaining his hold on approximately eleven nominations for four-star generals and officers.
“I’m releasing everybody. I still got a hold on, I think, 11 four-star generals. Everybody else is completely released from me,” Tuberville informed reporters on Tuesday.
“But other than that, it’s over,” he added.
Despite this development, the Alabama Republican expressed his disappointment that the abortion policy remained unchanged.
“We saw some success. We didn’t get as much out of it as we wanted,” Tuberville remarked.
He reflected on the challenges faced by the minority in influencing policy.
“The only opportunity you got to get people on the left up here to listen to you in the minority is to put a hold on something. I think we opened their eyes a little bit. We didn’t get the win that we wanted. We still got a bad policy,” Tuberville concluded.
The lifting of the holds occurred as Democrats were preparing to vote on altering Senate rules to enable the progression of the military confirmations.
This impending vote and the Democrats’ strategy prompted the Senate GOP conference to persuade Tuberville to modify his approach, the report notes.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on lifting his blockade of nearly all military promotions:
“I’m releasing everybody. I still have a hold on, I think, 11 four-star generals … I think a few other people got holds on one or two or three people. But other than that, it’s over.” pic.twitter.com/leAihqtglu
— The Recount (@therecount) December 5, 2023
