Tuberville Slams White House For Not Negotiating Military Holds

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville on Sunday criticized the White House for not negotiating his blockade of military promotions.

In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Tuberville said the White House would rather “burn the Senate down” than negotiate on his blockade of more than 360 military promotions to protest the Pentagon’s new abortion policy.

Tuberville’s comments come as Senate Democrats and a handful of Republicans look to pursue a rarely used procedural tactic to defeat his blockade.

Tommy Tuberville on Senate efforts to end his blocking of military promotions: "They need to be worried about what's going on in Ukraine, the Middle East, the wars that their side, the Democrats and Joe Biden, have created." pic.twitter.com/L5bAxnEVTe

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 26, 2023

From CNN:

“It’s typical of this place. This administration would rather burn the Senate down and that’s what would happen. … If you change the rules of the Senate then it lasts forever,” Tuberville told CNN’s Manu Raju. “So they would rather burn down the Senate than negotiate.”

All Senate Democrats would have to join with nine Republicans for this latest plan to work. The bloc of nominees wouldn’t include some higher-level military promotions, which senators would still want to confirm one at a time. The proposal could go to the Senate Rules Committee as soon as this week, a source told CNN Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he disagreed with Tuberville and called his blockade of military promotions a mistake earlier in the week.

"I disagree with that decision," @LeaderMcConnell says on Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blockade of military promotions, calling it "a mistake" and "very, very concerning."

When asked why Tuberville isn't listening to him, McConnell tells @margbrennan: "This is not a dictatorship." pic.twitter.com/L5HKrRSirN

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 23, 2023

Joe Biden also piled on Tuberville and called the holds outrageous during the week.

President Joe Biden called Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville's months-long hold on military promotions, 'outrageous.' pic.twitter.com/iFzYumcDyT

— USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) October 27, 2023

Per The Hill:

Democrats are looking at using a standing order resolution to move a block of more than 300 nonpolitical military nominees who have been stalled for months.

The resolution would allow the Senate to move military promotions in a group through the end of 2024, providing exceptions for officers nominated to a position on the Joint Chiefs of Staff or to lead a Combatant Command.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there’s already been “a good bit” of outreach to Republicans on the proposal.

We need to break the Tuberville logjam on military promotions and confirmations that's putting our national security at risk.

If Senate Republicans won't stand up to him, then we should change Senate rules to get past his reckless blockade. pic.twitter.com/d5zpyGLZYj

— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) October 27, 2023

Despite the optimism from the Democrats, it doesn’t look like their plan is going to work because they will have difficulty flipping nine senators, even with all the RINOs in the Senate.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said it will “probably” be a heavy lift to find the nine or 10 Republican votes needed to roll Tuberville.

“There’s a lot of discussion out there around it. We’ll see where that lands,” he said.