Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is being showered with support in the face of a media onslaught from the White House over his holds on approving hundreds of President Biden’s military nominations in bulk.
Biden administration officials have taken to numerous media outlets this week to rail against Tuberville. Tuberville has continued to prevent Senate Democrats from approving Biden’s military nominations by a ‘unanimous consent’ voice vote because of the Pentagon’s new policy that reimburses the cost of transportation for service members and their families who travel to get an abortion.
Despite assertions that Tuberville’s holds are ‘dangerous’ and putting national security ‘at risk,’ the Biden administration has refused to call on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring any of the nominations to the floor for a vote individually — something Tuberville cannot prevent — telling Fox News Digital that such a move would set a bad precedent for future administrations.
‘Woke bureaucratic Secretaries are quick to throw baseless accusations [at Tuberville] simply for fighting for the right to life. They’ve completely deviated from their department missions to focus on social justice nonsense,’ Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Biggs was responding to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro accusing Tuberville of ‘aiding and abetting’ communists with his holds.
Del Toro’s ‘remarks are totally inappropriate,’ Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., wrote. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ‘can solve this immediately by rescinding DoD’s abortion travel policy. And nothing is stopping [Schumer] from bringing these officers to the floor today but his own political agenda.’
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called Del Toro’s remarks ‘rich,’ arguing Del Toro was ‘aiding & abetting the destruction of our military with woke social engineering in an administration aiding & abetting terrorists & cartels through open borders.’
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote that ‘politicians’ running the Pentagon could expedite the confirmations of Biden’s nominees by ‘abandoning their months-long effort to flout federal law, as they have done by using U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund abortion tourism.
‘In slandering one of the most courageous men in Washington, Secretary Del Toro has debased himself and the Department of Defense.’
‘The Democrats and DoD could call for an individual vote on any of these nominations, but they have chosen not to because they don’t want to discuss the policy. Giving free annual leave — all expenses paid — for an abortion but not for the death of a family member is one of many examples of how the military has been politicized,’ Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox.
Blackburn was joined by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who told Fox, ‘Let’s be clear— Senator Schumer is the only Senator with the power to schedule votes, yet he refuses to bring a single military promotion or nomination to the floor. Instead, Senate Democrats are in lock-step defending the Biden Administration’s radical policy to spend hard-earned taxpayer dollars on facilitating elective abortions up to the moment of birth.’
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins also echoed that sentiment, writing that Schumer and his fellow Democrats were ‘refusing’ to hold a vote on any nominations because they were ‘promoting abortion over the military.’
‘Floor votes could be held on military nominations; they are choosing not to,’ he added.
Tuberville has also received the backing of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank whose leaders also took to X to defend the senator from the Biden administration’s onslaught.
‘The Senate worked from 3 p.m. on Tuesday to 2 p.m. on Thursday. But no time to debate or vote on our highest-ranking military officials! In [Schumer’s] words, they simply can’t be ‘burdened’ with that,’ Heritage’s Cody Sargent, a former spokesperson for Tuberville, wrote.
Ryan Walker, the group’s acting executive director and vice president of government relations called Del Toro’s statement ‘unconscionable,’ and argued the secretary ‘swore an oath to defend the Constitution, the very document that gives [Tuberville] the authority to address grievances.’
He then accused the Biden administration of ‘prioritizing abortion over defense.’
Schumer’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on why there has not been urgency to bring individual military nominations to a vote in the Senate considering the threat the administration claims Tuberville’s holds pose.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.