A group of Democrats are lining up behind the newest push to pressure Sen. Tommy Tuberville to relent on his hold of hundreds of senior military promotions.
VoteVets PAC, a Democratic veterans group, organized a visual display on the lawn outside the Senate showing the pictures of nominees for the promotions delayed by Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold.
Democrats, including Sens. Jack Reed (R.I.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), urged the holds to come to an end, saying Tuberville should make his objections to the Defense Department’s policy offering paid leave and travel reimbursement to troops seeking abortions and other reproductive care through the annual defense policy bill or through legal challenges.
“Sen. Tuberville, with the support of his Republican colleagues, is punishing these people because he’s unpersuasive,” said Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee.
Tuberville’s protest, which one official recently warned will take years to recover from, comes over a Pentagon policy few troops are using. The Alabama Republican has shown no indication of releasing those holds anytime soon, demanding the military reverse course on its policy.
