As Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade on military promotions has dragged on, even as the Alabama Republican’s tantrum started actually affecting the armed forces, the senator found it necessary to blow off all kinds of critics who urged him to be more responsible.
Tuberville has been willing to ignore U.S. military leaders. And veterans. And every living former secretary of Defense. And congressional Democrats. And the White House.
But is he willing to ignore miliary spouses, too? AL.com reported:
An organization that advocates for military families on Monday hand delivered a petition signed by more than 500 active duty military spouses to Sen. Tommy Tuberville that calls the senator’s months-long hold on military nominations “highly inappropriate and unpatriotic.”
The petition organized by the non-partisan Secure Families Initiative presses the GOP senator to end his monthslong tantrum, and the hundreds of military spouses used language that was rather direct.
“Let us be clear: Senator Tuberville is playing politics with our military,” the document reads. “Senator Tuberville disagrees with the Department of Defense’s compensation package for active duty servicemembers and their families. As military families know all too well, service members and dependents do not choose where they live. This is why the DoD guarantees a health care package that provides paid time off and reimburses travel costs for comprehensive health services that a servicemember or dependent cannot access at certain duty stations. If a Senator disagrees with DoD health care policy, they should settle it through normal legislative or administrative channels. It is highly inappropriate and unpatriotic to wage a political battle by using military service members as pawns.”
Former Sen. Doug Jones — Tuberville’s Democratic predecessor — suggested that resolving such a dispute “through normal legislative or administrative channels” makes sense, but it’s not altogether clear whether the coach-turned-politician “knows or understands” what normal legislative or administrative channels are.
“No matter your political beliefs,” the military spouses conclude, “we must agree that service members and military families will not be used as political leverage. It’s time to end this political showmanship and recommit to respect the service and sacrifice of those who pledge to defend this nation.”
As the total number of pending military nominations nears 300, is there any chance Tuberville might be persuaded by the spouses of servicemembers? Evidently not: The Hill reported, “Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R), who is holding up more than 280 senior military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion policies, said Tuesday he’s not likely to change his position before the Senate departs for a five-week August recess.”
That means, of course, that these servicemen and women — and their families — many of whom have been waiting since February for a once-routine confirmation process to work, will remain stuck in limbo until after Labor Day, at the earliest.