Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala) has incurred the wrath of both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for his blocking of senior military promotions and nominations.
This comes is as Sen. Tuberville protests a new Defense Department policy that provides travel expenses and paid time off for service members and their dependents seeking abortions.
NBC News reports promotions for over 150 military generals and flag officers, as well as two civilians, are on the line.
“One senator — just one single senator, my colleague from Alabama, Sen. Tuberville — is blocking all general and flag officer confirmations, taking our military, our national security, our safety hostage,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.
“For years — years and years and years — both parties have worked together to quickly confirm the routine promotions of generals and flag officers without partisan bickering," he continued.
NBC News reports Tuberville said in a Senate hearing Tuesday that he will keep the hold on the promotions until the policy is changed.
The Defense Department says the policy does not fund abortions but instead gives service members and their dependents the ability to get reproductive procedures that may no longer be available as states roll back abortion protections after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade last year.