White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) for withholding about 200 Pentagon nominees over a Defense Department abortion policy, calling the lawmaker “disgraceful ” and accusing him of endangering national security.
Jean-Pierre said the senator’s blocking of candidates harmed military families and put “our military readiness at risk by depriving our armed forces of leadership.”
“What the senator is doing with these nominations is a threat to our national security. Period. That’s what he’s doing,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at a briefing Wednesday. “These are important nominations that we need, that the American people need to keep our country safe.”
Tuberville began blocking confirmations to senior Pentagon officials in March to protest a Defense Department policy enacted last year that provides paid leave and reimburses travel costs to service members who travel for abortions.
The GOP senator has criticized the policy as a violation of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal taxpayer funds for abortion services.
Some Republican senators, including Joni Ernst (Iowa), have tried to get Tuberville to end the block, but Tuberville has rebuffed them. according to Punchbowl News. Ernst had offered a bill as part of the annual defense spending legislation to reverse the abortion policy, but Tuberville is only interested in ending its hold-up if the Pentagon abandons the policy or if the policy is codified through the legislation
Tuberville is blocking what is usually a quick process to confirm Pentagon nominees.
If it persists, the Senate would have to consider each nominee in a longer process that consumes valuable time.
The backlog has grown in recent months and could eventually affect the confirmation of the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff along with other senior positions at the Joint Chiefs.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in May he shot the heist that endangers national security, calling the blog “irresponsible”.
The White House on Wednesday did not say what talks U.S. officials are having with Tuberville to end the blog, but Jean-Pierre repeated that it was “shameful that he would do this.”
“Senators,” said Jean-Pierre, “should not play politics with our military assistance, with our military training and with our military family.”
