(NewsNation) — Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville defended his decision to hold up military nominations, including those of senior officers, over a disagreement with the Pentagon’s abortion policy.
Tuberville’s move has sparked a heated debate with Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, who says the senator is potentially hurting the nation’s combat readiness.
“They’re making a mountain out of a molehill here,” Tuberville said in an appearance on “On Balance With Leland Vittert.” “We’ve got more generals and admirals (than) you stir with a stick. That Pentagon over there is running full with people … that really have nothing to do with readiness.”
Del Toro delivered a heated response, saying, “I never imagined that actually one of our own senators would actually be aiding and abetting communist and other autocratic regimes around the world. This is having a real negative impact and will continue to have a real negative impact on our combat readiness.”
At the center of the issue is a new Defense Department policy that provides paid leave and travel reimbursement for abortions.
Tuberville claimed that it violates the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions.
Tuberville claims that President Joe Biden’s attempt to change the policy through a memo is an overreach and should require congressional approval.
“This has to go through Congress,” he said. “And if we just go through Congress and vote on it, I’ll accept whatever, but right now they’re just trying to force it down the taxpayers’ throat.”
So far, Tuberville has stalled the nominations for 300 generals and flag officers. A total of 650 more military leaders require Senate confirmation by the end of the year.
Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, talked about the importance of these confirmations and related it to football.
“Imagine going into the football season with a bunch of acting coaches, for each of our teams with a regulation that limits any of those acting coaches from presuming that he or she was actually going to officially leave the team,” Ryder said. “How are you going to deal with the uncertainty of within the coaching staff and the locker room in terms of who’s in charge? How are we going to affect performance? And then who are the … fans going to hold accountable?”
Tuberville said that’s not a fair comparison.
He emphasized that the real focus should be on the lower-ranking military personnel, such as captains, majors, colonels, sergeants, and privates, who are essential for combat readiness.
“If I had if I thought this had anything to do with our national security and not having us prepared for what’s going on across the world, I wouldn’t be doing this,” he said. “But it’s obvious that the Democrats are trying to use it … to their advantage.”
Tuberville says he has vetted “all these generals and admirals, these 300 over the last month, there’s some of them I’m not gonna vote for anyway.”
Senate Republican leaders attempted to figure out a solution prior to the August recess amid work on the annual defense policy package, but they were stymied and unable to hammer out a solution.
“I’ve got I’ve got all kinds of support on the Republican side,” he said. “Obviously, this is a very partisan issue. The Democrats … could care less really what’s going on. They’re making this political.”
Tuberville accused the Pentagon of being “woke” and expressed concern about whether the military could effectively fight a war in its current state.
“I’m trying to get politics out of the military,” he said. “Because we’re so woke right now, I don’t know whether we could fight a war.”
“I’m just trying to protect the integrity of the Constitution, how we do things here,” he continued. “Let the laws go through Congress, not to the White House.”