Biden Pentagon leaders call the policy to fund travel and time off for troops seeking abortions “critical and necessary” in an op-ed aimed at increasing pressure on Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) — who has blocked blanket confirmation in the Senate of a slew of military officer promotions over the policy.
Civilian leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force write in the Washington Post:
These officers and the millions of service members they lead are the foundation of America’s enduring military advantage. Yet this foundation is being actively eroded by the actions of a single U.S. senator, Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who is blocking the confirmation of our most senior military officers.
“After the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, this policy is critical and necessary to meet our obligations to the force,” they argue. They also say it is “putting our national security at risk.”
After Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden Pentagon, in February, enacted a policy to pay for the travel and accommodation of troops and their family members seeking abortions if they are based in a state where they can not get one.
WATCH: White House Calls Abortions in Military a “Sacred Obligation”
Tuberville argues that the policy violates the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer dollars from funding abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is at risk. He has said he would drop his block if the Biden administration rescinds its policy or can get it enacted into law, not via defense secretary order.
Senate Democrats can still confirm the promotions individually but not all at once via unanimous consent due to Tuberville’s block. Nonetheless, the Biden administration has refused to go down that route and set a precedent that would eat up time on the Senate floor. It has also refused to rescind its policy despite claiming that not having confirmed leaders hurts national security.
But Tuberville is not showing any signs of backing down.
“They say it’s hurting readiness. It’s really not. Nobody leaves their position until it’s filled. So there’s no readiness problem,” said Tuberville in a recent interview with Center Point TV.
He continued:
The problem we’re having, right now, with our military is they can’t recruit. We’re behind in the Air Force, in the Navy, Army, they’re way behind in recruiting — nobody wants to join the military because of all these woke policies that Secretary Austin and Joe Biden are putting in place.
The Pentagon leaders argue that Tuberville’s hold is “unfair to these military leaders and their families” due to the nearly 300 senior military officials nominated by the Biden administration for promotion having to serve in their old positions or, in some cases, serving in both positions.
“Across the services, many generals and admirals are being forced to perform two roles simultaneously. The strain of this double duty places a real and unfair burden on these officers, the organizations they lead and their families,” the leaders wrote.
Tuberville said he recently received a letter of support from 5,000 veterans and spoke to a mother of a service member who said she did not understand why her son had to pay $2,000 for new uniforms out of his pocket while taxpayers are supposed to pay for troops to get abortions.
“We’ve got generals and admirals making $300,000, and we got young men and women that are fighting these 20-year wars that we just came out of making less than $40,000 a year — less than welfare wages. We have got to make adjustments to our military,” he said.
“Right now, all we’re doing is we’re looking at these [high-ranking] admirals and generals and giving them their opportunity to make a lot of money,” he said.
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