Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has joined fellow GOP 2024 hopefuls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence in supporting Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is holding up military promotions until the Department of Defense ends its policy of paying travel expenses for members seeking abortions.
"I called Sen. Tuberville earlier to thank him for his courageous stance on this issue," Ramaswamy said in a social media post on Thursday.
NPR reported Monday that under Senate rules, Tuberville is allowed to unilaterally put a hold on promotion nominations for generals and admirals, which need to be confirmed by the upper chamber.
"I warned the Pentagon that I would hold their most senior nominees if they broke the law," Tuberville said in a statement first reported this week by Breitbart News. "They did it anyway and forced my hand. Since then, [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer and [President Joe Biden's] administration have refused any serious negotiations, and so this situation has dragged on.
"I will continue this process of oversight and I will announce my opposition to specific nominees in the weeks ahead."
According to the report, 301 nominated promotions, including a replacement for retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, are currently in limbo. That number could increase to 650 by year's end.
Tuberville said in an interview with Alabama's Yellowhammer News on Thursday that he believes the policy to reimburse military members for abortion travel started in February in response to last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide, runs afoul of federal law prohibiting the use of federal funds for the procedures.
"We don't need to get into these woke policies and run it into the ground like they've done with every other institution. Like the DOJ, the FBI, our education system, that's exactly what they're trying to do," Tuberville said in the interview. "They're not supposed to be making laws and I'm not going to allow them to do it. They're going to have to change this policy back and bring it to the floor and let's vote on it. That's the only way I'll drop the policy."
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Tuberville's holds "insulting and damaging."
"The senator from Alabama has chosen a profoundly insulting and damaging path to make his unhappiness known," Reed told NPR. "The Senate has always treated military nominations with respect and bipartisan support as part of a routine promotion process. Now, they have been turned into political pawns by the senator from Alabama."
Charles Kim ✉
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
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