Tuberville: Democrats Would Rather ‘Burn Down the Senate’ Than Negotiate Military Hold

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) speaks during a Senate Budget Committee hearing in the Hart Senate Office building in Washington on Feb. 17, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Joe Biden and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) remain at odds over a military abortion policy, and the Republican senator is accusing the president and his fellow Democrats of preferring to “burn down the Senate” to get their way on the matter.

Mr. Tuberville has maintained a hold on military promotions for months, in hopes of forcing the Department of Defense (DOD) to end a policy that reimburses service members for abortion-related travel. Mr. Tuberville’s hold blocks the Senate from approving large batches of military promotion nominees through unanimous consent procedures, though the Senate has handled a few military nominees individually through its normal procedural rules.

Amid the impasse, more than 300 military officers now await Senate action on their pending promotions and nominations. The impasse has led the Democratic Senate majority to consider ways to circumvent Mr. Tuberville’s hold without budging on the military abortion travel policy.

In an interview with CNN on Sunday, host Manu Raju asked Mr. Tuberville about one reported plan to temporarily change Senate rules to bypass his hold and quickly process many of the pending military promotions and nominations.

“It’s typical of this place. This administration would rather burn the Senate down and that’s what would happen. ... If you change the rules of the Senate, then it lasts forever,” Mr. Tuberville told CNN. “So they would rather burn down the Senate than negotiate.”

The Democratic Senate majority has been considering rule changes for months, but this particular idea has reportedly gained momentum in recent weeks after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Unrest in the Middle East

The Oct. 7 attacks set off new fighting between Israel and Hamas and U.S. and Israeli officials have raised concerns about Iran and its regional partners expanding the conflict. Amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas, U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria have also been wounded by rockets and drones launched by suspected Iran-backed factions. Mr. Tuberville has faced renewed questions about his holds and U.S. military readiness during this growing unrest in the Middle East.

The Democratic Senate majority’s reported plan to bypass Mr. Tuberville’s hold would entail a 60-vote threshold to temporarily change the Senate’s nomination procedures to rapidly approve many military nominees. Nine Senate Republicans would have to be willing to vote for the temporary rule change for it to work.

Mr. Tuberville has maintained his hold on the military nomination process for months, insisting the DOD’s abortion travel policy runs afoul of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from going toward abortions, except in cases where a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or a pregnancy comes about as a result of rape or incest.

The DOD adopted the new abortion policy following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the court ruled states could regulate various aspects of abortion not already covered under federal law.

Abortion Policy

Following the Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that military service members in certain states could struggle to obtain abortions from themselves or their dependents under the new legal precedent. The DOJ determined that the Hyde Amendment’s prohibition on the use of federal funds for abortions does not cover transportation costs associated with obtaining such abortions. The DOD in turn announced it would provide a travel allowance for “non-covered reproductive health care” and service members would not be charged from their leave allowance for the travel time they take, though the service member would still have to pay for the actual abortion procedure.

At a July press conference, President Biden called Mr. Tuberville’s military nomination hold “bizarre” and “irresponsible” and accused the Republican lawmaker of “jeopardizing U.S. security.“ When asked if he‘d consider negotiating with Mr. Tuberville, the president replied, ”I’d be willing to talk to him if I thought there’s any possibility he was changing this ridiculous position he has.”

Mr. Tuberville and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have met on a few occasions to discuss the disagreement, but neither side has budged.

“If they go around and, without negotiating, change the rules of the Senate it just goes to show you they want it their way or the highway,” Mr. Tuberville told CNN on Sunday.

From NTD News