It’s a sad reflection on the state of our country when defending the lives of unborn babies is considered “controversial.” But what’s equally disturbing is the cowardice displayed by many so-called “pro-life” Republicans when it comes to fighting for the issue when and where it matters.
That’s what Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is up against as he attempts to prevent his Senate GOP colleagues from siding with Democrats to kill his protest of the Pentagon’s radical abortion policy.
Using his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tuberville has been slow-walking the military promotions that require Senate confirmation, in protest of the Pentagon’s use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to pay for Defense Department employees’ abortion-related travel expenses. Rather than allow the committee to confirm a large number of military nominations “en masse,” the Alabama Republican’s protest forces the body to vote on each nomination one at a time. Despite possessing the power to bring these nominations to the Senate floor for a vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats have regularly attacked Tuberville, baselessly accusing him of jeopardizing “national security” and “military readiness.”
But it’s not just Democrats smearing Tuberville for fighting an unlawful policy and defending the unborn. Last week, several GOP senators led by Alaska’s Dan Sullivan took to the Senate floor to lambast Tuberville for his protest and call for an end to the hold on mass-confirming Biden’s military nominees. During his remarks, Sullivan regurgitated Democrats’ “military readiness” talking point and suggested Tuberville’s protest was contributing to the military’s retention crisis. Despite evidence to the contrary, he also falsely claimed that it’s “ridiculous” to suggest some of Biden’s nominees are “woke.”
Other Republican senators joining Sullivan’s pile-on included Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Todd Young of Indiana.
Amid reports that GOP senators are colluding with Democrats to change Senate procedures to neuter Tuberville’s protest, the Alabama Republican is now attempting to keep his Republican colleagues from betraying conservative voters. During a Tuesday Senate GOP conference, Tuberville distributed an informational packet explaining why so-called “solutions” suggested by some of his colleagues would fail to stop the Pentagon’s extreme policy.
Among these “non-feasible proposals” is a resolution proposed by Senate Democrats that would effectively allow the upper chamber to “circumvent [Tuberville’s] holds for all but the most senior nominees” by lowering the “threshold for cloture to a ‘majority of the Senators voting.’” This maneuver— which requires the approval of 60 senators — would permit the Senate to “consider these nominees en bloc” and allow the Pentagon’s unlawful policy to remain in place.
Another proposal the packet explains is ill-advised would be for Senate Republicans to file a lawsuit against the Defense Department. As noted in the packet, however, it remains unclear “who would have standing for such a lawsuit” and is “unlikely” a court would determine that senators would have “standing in such a challenge.” More importantly, the proposal would “likely” allow the Pentagon policy to remain in effect.
Tuberville also insists the suggestion to limit his protest to solely civilian nominees is non-feasible due to the small number of DOD civilians up for nomination and the fact that such a proposal would allow the agency’s abortion fetish to continue.
The packet produced by Tuberville also laid out possible resolutions to the matter, including the option that the Pentagon revoke its abortion policy and the option that the Senate and President Biden approve the House-passed defense bill that rescinds the Pentagon’s pro-abortion guidance. Tuberville also pointed out that the Senate could continue individual roll call votes on nominees until the DOD stops subsidizing abortion-related travel for its employees.
A lack of consensus among GOP senators following Tuesday’s meeting provoked ire from Sullivan, who ran to the press to whine about Tuberville’s defense of the unborn and pledged to once again go to the Senate floor to attack the Alabama Republican. While speaking with Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio, the Alaska senator reportedly dropped the f-bomb while claiming “Arguments that [Tuberville’s protest isn’t] impacting moral and readiness are not serious.”
“When Dan Sullivan, U.S. Marine Corps, makes a commitment to Marines & soldiers & sailors & airmen, I’m going to f-cking keep that commitment,” Sullivan said.
Republicans Ignore Facts and Their Voters
There’s no excuse for Sullivan and Co. — all of whom represent red states — going out of their way to attack Tuberville for taking a stand against the Biden administration’s unlawful and demonic policy.
As noted in the informational packet Tuberville provided to Senate Republicans, the DOD’s predictions that its abortion policy would “impact 4,000 service members” turned out to be false, as unofficial reports purportedly show “approximately 12 service members have used [it] to date.” Even the Pentagon was forced to admit it doesn’t “have any data on women being deterred from joining the military for fear of being stationed at an installation or base in a state or nation” that limits the killing of unborn babies.
Not only are these senators ignoring basic facts and the will of their constituents; they’re also shunning the voices of thousands of military veterans speaking out in support of Tuberville’s hold. Most U.S. service members don’t join the military to inflict a political agenda on the American people. They sign up to protect their fellow countrymen and the U.S. Constitution.
If Sullivan and his GOP comrades bothered to listen to their voters instead of the D.C. consultant class, they might realize their little stunt is viewed as nothing more than a total surrender on the issue. But that kind of introspection requires a level of self-awareness most D.C. Republicans don’t care to possess.
Tuberville Informational Pa… by The Federalist
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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