Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville's hold on military nominations is a "national security problem," and it's "paralyzing the Department of Defense," according to House Foreign Affairs Chair Mike McCaul, R-Texas.
"The idea that one man in the Senate can hold this up for months," McCaul told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, "I understand maybe promotions, but [holding up] nominations is paralyzing the Department of Defense.
"I think that is a national security problem and a national security issue, and I really wish he would reconsider this."
Tuberville has been holding up more than 300 DOD confirmations over his opposition to the Pentagon's policy of reimbursing service members and their families who must travel while seeking abortions.
"We're working this issue out in the National Defense Authorization Act," McCaul said. "We worked it out on the House side. We're going to conference in the Senate. We're going to work out this abortion issue."
The confirmations of more than 300 top military nominees have been kept on hold over Tuberville's opposition, but a spokesperson for the senator told CNN on Sunday that McCaul's view of the matter "just isn't accurate."
"No one can stop [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer from holding votes on these nominations. He just doesn't want to," spokesperson Steven Stafford said. "It's also inaccurate because acting officials are in all of these roles. In some cases, these acting officials are the nominees for permanent roles. No jobs are open or going undone right now."
The hold on promotions began in March, and last week, secretaries for three U.S. military service branches claimed the block is helping communist and autocratic regimes, while being used against the United States by its adversaries, including China.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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