Nominations could move on a case-by-case basis, but they won’t
The Biden administration accuses Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., of jeopardizing national security by placing holds on President Biden’s military nominations but is unwilling to consider a path that would allow some of these nominations to proceed.
Biden’s early exit from Medal of Honor ceremony didn’t fly online: ‘Insult’
When Fox News Digital raised the question with administration officials — why not request Democratic leaders who control the Senate to advance these nominations individually if national security is genuinely at risk — the idea was summarily dismissed.
One senior administration official explained to Fox News Digital that allowing individual promotions or nominations to be voted on one at a time would establish a negative precedent for future administrations and for the military as a whole.
The official gave no indication that the administration would change its stance on the new policy to reimburse the cost of transportation for service members or their families who travel for an abortion, which is the primary reason for Tuberville’s holds.
This hold is causing hundreds of nominations and promotions to be stalled, as they cannot be passed through “unanimous consent,” a process that streamlines approval by moving them forward as a group rather than voting on each one individually. However, opting for a slower, case-by-case approach could enable crucial nominations to progress, potentially alleviating some of the purported harm.
Tuberville has no plans to back down until the Pentagon reverses its recent change to the abortion funding policy.
“I informed Secretary Austin that if they reverse this policy, I will release my holds on admirals and generals, and I won’t revert until the policy is changed back. I don’t think they took me seriously,” Tuberville told Fox. “If they wish to proceed, they can bring these nominations to the floor individually for a vote. I’d likely support most of them and look forward to doing so. However, they have not been willing to cooperate with me at all.
“Their approach has been to criticize and insult me, resorting to name-calling and such. That’s what the Democrats do. That’s been their approach during their nearly three years in power. They haven’t heard ‘no’ in three years until now,” he added. “I’m not going to alter my position. They haven’t attempted to find common ground or compromise.”
The Biden administration, Democratic senators, and several liberal media figures have increasingly focused their criticism on Tuberville since he resumed his holdings in February. On Monday, the secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post denouncing Tuberville’s position as “dangerous” and accusing him of “blocking” the promotions. However, they did not mention the option of having the Senate vote individually on these nominations.
Fox News Digital made several attempts to contact each of the military departments to inquire why the Senate was not asked to consider these critical nominations separately. However, they refused to provide an on-the-record response or did not respond at all. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
A Biden administration official who spoke to Fox emphasized that it will take significant time to confirm the hundreds of individual nominations. As of last month, more than 300 leadership positions were vacant at the Department of Defense, a number some experts believe could rise to more than 600 by the end of the year if Tuberville continues his holds.
Tuberville dismissed that idea, stating to Fox, “They could have easily confirmed all these nominations if they had chosen to consider them one at a time, dedicating a few hours each day to vote on four, five, or six of them. But they refused to adopt that approach.”
The senator further cautioned that, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, the Biden administration appeared determined to maximize federal employee involvement in performing abortions, as this would allow them to bypass state laws restricting abortion.
He went on to explain that his capacity, as a member of the Senate’s minority party, to prevent Democrats from advancing any policy they desired was limited to employing the hold.
“I’ve made it clear to them that I will only remove these holds if they revert the policy to its previous state, as it was voted on by Congress. Bring it back and then present a bill for us to vote on in the Senate , and we’ll conduct that vote. If it passes, it passes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But I will release the holds only under those conditions,” Tuberville emphasized.