Military secretaries criticize Tommy Tuberville over military confirmation holds over abortion travel policy
Published 4:19 pm Tuesday, September 5, 2023
The secretaries of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force jointly said Monday in an opinion piece that Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville’s 6-month “hold” on senior military confirmations is eroding the strength of America’s military.
“These officers and the millions of service members they lead are the foundation of America’s enduring military advantage,” the op-ed published in The Washington Post read. “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.”
The opinion piece was signed by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth.
Tuberville has maintained a hold on senior military confirmations over his disagreement with the military’s policy on paying for travel for soldiers who seek abortions but are stationed in state’s that do not allow abortion.
“Military spouses who have worked to build careers of their own are unable to look for jobs because they don’t know when or if they will move,” the opinion piece reads. “Children haven’t known where they will go to school, which is particularly hard given how frequently military children change schools already.”
Tuberville, on September 2, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that the block on confirmation should be blamed on the administration of President Joe Biden.
“I didn’t start this,” Tuberville wrote. “The Biden Admin injected politics into the military and imposed an unlawful abortion policy on the American taxpayers. I am trying to get politics out of the military.”
Tuberville has maintained his hold hasn’t harmed the military or the country’s security.
“Any claim that holding up the promotions of top officers does not directly damage the military is wrong — plain and simple,” the military secretaries wrote.