Tommy Tuberville gets three more military officers confirmed by Senate
On Thursday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) got three more military officers confirmed by the Senate. Tuberville obtained the 16 signatures needed for a successful cloture petition for the nomination of Lieutenant General Christopher Mahoney to be the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. The United States Senate confirmed this nomination, as well as the nominations of Admiral Lisa Franchetti to be Chief of Naval Operations and General David Allvin for Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Sen. Tuberville spoke with the Alabama press corps before the vote on the three military nominations. “Putting a hold on these admirals and generals has put a lot of pressure on the White House and Senator [Chuck] Schumer himself and Chairman Reed of the Armed Services Committee,” Tuberville told Alabama reporters. “We all have to remember that this is a two-way street. I am fighting for the Constitution. I am fighting that the American people and taxpayers do not have to pay for anything to do with abortion. We had a very good abortion policy that had no problems being worked with for the last 35 years, but this White House decided to change it and go around the Constitution to force the American taxpayers to pay for something involved in abortion, and I am not standing for it. I don’t represent the people up here. I represent the people of Alabama. I am pro-life, and the people that sent me here expect me to get things done in that way. I am confident in General [Karsten] Heckl that he can get the job done waiting for our commandant who unfortunately had a serious health illness in the last few days. I don’t know the direction that that is going to go, but I have filed a petition with Chuck Schumer to put an assistant commandant on the floor. We did that. Hopefully, we will vote on it in the next two days to move that up the ladder, but again, I am showing Chuck Schumer how to do his job. I have said all along that we could be doing these. They have refused to do it. They have refused to work with the American people, and they have put us in a tough situation.” Since February, Senator Tuberville has imposed a blanket hold on senior military promotions over his opposition to the Biden Administration’s taxpayer-funded abortion-related travel policy which Tuberville says is illegal. Sen. Tuberville has repeatedly said that if the Pentagon reverses its policy, he will lift his hold and agree to give unanimous consent to the promotions. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) can bring any of these nominations to the floor for a vote individually. As Tuberville has twice demonstrated, any of the 100 U.S. Senators can write up a cloture petition, and if they can get the 16 signatures necessary those nominations can be forced to the floor according to Senate rules. Tuberville pointed out that the Department of Defense’s authority to fund abortions is governed by 10 U.S.C. 1093, which limits abortions to cases of rape, incest, or pregnancies that threaten the life of the mother. These rules apply to both service members and their spouses and dependents. Given this provision, the Department of Defense has averaged fewer than 20 abortions per year, with 91 abortions at military facilities occurring between 2016 and 2021. According to a third-party study cited by officials, the number of abortions subsidized by the Department of Defense under the new policy could increase to 4,100 annually — 205 times the number of abortions performed in recent years. Acting on the orders of President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memorandum on February 16, 2023, announcing the formal implementation of the abortion policy to fund travel and paid time off for service members and their dependents seeking an abortion, despite existing law – even though Congress never authorized this policy. It is counter to the policy that was previously in place under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Tuberville had threatened to put the hold on promotions in place if the administration implemented the proposed policy change without a vote of Congress. On February 16, 2023, Senator Tuberville followed through with his pledge to hold all general and flag officer nominations on the Senate floor. Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, and HELP Committees. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Tommy Tuberville to seek floor vote on No. 2 Marine leader after commandant hospitalized
Ashley Murray, Alabama Reflector WASHINGTON — Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who for months has been blocking hundreds of military promotions in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy, plans to call a floor vote on the nominee for second-in-command of the U.S. Marines Corps after its top leader Gen. Eric M. Smith suffered a health emergency Sunday. Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, gathered the required petition signatures to bring an individual vote to the floor on Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, nominee for the Corps’ assistant commandant. President Joe Biden nominated Mahoney in July. “The vote could be as soon as Thursday,” said Steven Stafford, spokesperson for Tuberville’s office. Stafford said Tuberville collected the 16 signatures he needed in roughly 30 minutes during the Senate’s weekly lunch on Tuesday. Stafford would not disclose names but said all signees are Republicans. Tuberville’s list of blocked nominees grew to 378 as of Friday but could balloon to 650 by year’s end, according to the Pentagon. Sens. Jack Reed, chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Kyrsten Sinema are mulling a proposal to bypass Tuberville’s holds and allow promotions to reach the floor en bloc rather than individually. Text of the proposal is not yet available, according to a spokesperson for Sinema, an independent who represents Arizona. Smith remains hospitalized, but further details about his condition and what happened Sunday were not released. “Due to the expressed wishes of his family, we are respecting their privacy at this difficult time. The Marine Corps will provide more information once it becomes available,” a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. Reed issued a statement on Smith just after 4:30 p.m. Eastern Monday. “I am wishing General Smith a speedy recovery. He is one of our nation’s finest and toughest leaders, and I hope he will return to full strength soon. My thoughts are with General Smith and his family,” the Rhode Island Democrat said. Tuberville also sits on the Armed Services Committee. Smith was confirmed in September after Tuberville pursued a similar effort to force individual votes for top military nominees. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York set up the votes to confirm Gen. Charles Q. Brown as the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Randy George to Army chief of staff, and Smith. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has warned the delayed promotions are a threat to national security. Defense abortion policy In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to strike down the federal right to abortion, the Pentagon announced that service members could receive leave and travel allowances when seeking abortions in areas of the country where it remains legal. The court’s decision triggered a patchwork of state-by-state abortion laws. About 80,000 active-duty female troops are based in states where legislatures enacted full or partial bans, according to a September 2022 analysis by the RAND Corporation, a think tank that has long produced defense research. Tuberville maintains the department’s policy is illegal. The Pentagon and Biden administration refute that claim. Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
