Ernst Blasts Democrats’ ‘Unprecedented’ Move to Save DOD Policy Funding Abortion Travel

Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) bill to repeal the Department of Defense’s (DOD) controversial policy funding travel for abortions failed this week during a closed-door committee meeting after Democrats used what Ernst called an “unprecedented” maneuver to doom it.

Ernst told Breitbart News in an interview Friday she believed Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats feared moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) would support it so they separated it out from the typical amendment process prior to voting on it.

“I was told several days ahead of the NDAA [markup] that Jack Reed, our chairman, was going to pull the amendment out and run it as a standalone bill, what we call a ‘sidecar bill,’ where it was not actually part of the NDAA, and I believe they did that because they were very worried that Joe Manchin would support my amendment, and they didn’t want it attached to the NDAA,” Ernst said.

She added, “It is absolutely unprecedented. It is unprecedented, and so I did express my outrage. This has never been done before.”

The NDAA, or National Defense Authorization Act, is an annual must-pass defense spending bill that the Senate Armed Services Committee vets in a closed-door markup process.

Ernst sought to attach her bill, called the Modification to Department of Defense Travel Authorities for Abortion-Related Expenses Act, as an amendment to the NDAA.

The bill would terminate DOD’s practice, authorized by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last October, of using taxpayer funds to pay for military members to travel to states that permit abortion, as well as grant them extra days of paid leave.

Ernst said the separate vote on her bill failed, as expected, ultimately blaming Manchin for offering an amendment to the sidecar bill that would require a study of the new DOD policy, which all Democrats supported and all Republicans opposed.

Ernst said she had met with Manchin last week and had not been aware of his plans for offering his own amendment.

“They blindsided us,” Ernst said. “Joe Manchin’s amendment is the one that they took up, but he was being very squishy about it. For someone who has said he supports life, this goes totally against that.”

Manchin’s office told Breitbart News the West Virginia Democrat has “long supported” any provisions that would prevent federal funding for abortions but that DOD’s policy was implemented without consultation of the upper chamber or its Armed Services Committee, making the full impact of the policy “unclear.”

“Now that these policies are the new standard it is unclear how their repeal would affect our service members access to health care services or our military’s ability to recruit and retain talent,” his office said.

Manchin’s amendment, which is included in the NDAA, will require a report and briefing to Congress by July 24, which the office noted would be before the full Senate were to vote on the NDAA.

This would “provide answers as to how the Administration believes these policies are legal, and to ensure there are not unintended consequences in their potential repeal,” the office said.

Ernst, for her part, said she would still attempt to bring her bill to the floor for a full vote.

“I’m not going to be deterred,” Ernst said. “I know the fight’s not over when it comes to the abortion policy at DOD. We’re going to keep fighting. I’m going to keep fighting. … The military is there to protect innocent lives, not to destroy them.”

She added, “We’re going to keep fighting. Joe can still reverse his position.”

Ernst’s challenges with the Armed Services Committee Democrats comes on the backdrop of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) continuing to hold Pentagon nominees on the Senate floor, causing a massive backlog of nominees that has added pressure to DOD as it faces Republican calls to withdraw its new abortion policy.

Ernst, a former lieutenant colonel herself and first female combat veteran elected to the Senate, said she has spoken with officials at DOD and gathered that “there is no intent at this point to reverse” the policy.

“So we are trying to find every angle we can to attack this issue,” she said.