Republicans like to claim they are strong supporters of the military. The same can't be said for Alabama's GOP senator. Tommy Tuberville is holding up all military promotions because of his idiotic culture war beliefs. Steve Been, at MSNBC.com, explains:
Tuberville has spent months blocking 184 military promotions — not because he has concerns about officers’ qualifications, but as part of a broader tantrum over a policy dispute.
The GOP senator — whose most meaningful association with the military was coaching the losing team in the 2014 Military Bowl — objects to a Pentagon policy that provides troops and their family members paid leave and stipends to travel for abortions or for fertility treatments. Tuberville is apparently of the opinion that the policy is at odds with existing federal law. He has no background in such matters, and lawyers who know what they’re talking about completely disagree, but that hasn’t swayed the senator, who hasn’t budged.
The Alabaman’s blockade has been condemned by the Pentagon, which has said the Republican senator’s tactic poses a “clear risk” to the nation’s military readiness and directly affects the lives of service members’ families. What’s more, literally every living former Defense secretary from the past quarter-century — including two former Republican members of the Senate — recently signed on to a joint statement to Senate leaders with a simple message: Tuberville is hurting the military with his blockade.
Even other GOP senators have expressed discomfort with the Alabaman's antics.
Tuberville’s blockade, however, continues, and it will apparently apply to Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr., who is supposed to become the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
There’s growing talk in Democratic circles that Senate leaders can’t allow an abuse like this to continue indefinitely, and members can change what one House Democrat described as “stupid, arcane, [and] selfish rules.”
Senate leaders have not expressed a willingness to overhaul the chamber’s traditions on holds — though the longer Tuberville’s tantrum continues, the more likely it is Democratic members will rethink their comfort with the status quo.