Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced on Tuesday that he would be dropping his blockade on hundreds of military promotions.
Tuberville has singlehandedly blocked over 400 military promotions in the Senate in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy that funded women’s travel out of state for an abortion. Tuberville dropped his blockade for generals three stars and below on Tuesday after months of pressure from his Republican and Democratic colleagues. (RELATED: Tommy Tuberville Tells GOP Behind Closed Doors He Will End His Hold On Military Promotions)
However, a hold will remain in place for nominations of 4-star generals and officers.
“I’m not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer. We just released them, everybody,” Tuberville told reporters Tuesday. “I think about 440 of them, everybody but 10 or 11, four stars.”
BREAKING: Senator Tommy Tuberville announced he is lifting his hold on hundreds of military promotions, which had been stalled due to his objections to a Pentagon abortion policy.
The Alabama Republican’s blockade affected nearly 400 military nominations, leaving important… pic.twitter.com/RS9ZctLSYB
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) December 5, 2023
Tuberville had told his Republican colleagues last week that he had been planning to drop the blockade, acknowledging that he got them “into this mess” and the he would help “get you out.” Senate Democrats were at the same time working on a resolution to package the promotions together and vote on them with a simple majority, thereby circumventing Tuberville’s blockade.
Critics of Tuberville argued that the vacant slots held up during his blockade would affect overall military readiness, especially in lieu of growing threats from Russia, China and the Middle East, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tuberville maintained that his hold was not affecting military readiness and the Senate could move to confirm nominees individually at any time.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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