Tuberville shows openness to options for solving military anti-abortion blockade

• Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville appears open to options to reconcile his blockade of officer promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy after a closed-door meeting with Republican senators on Tuesday.
• Tuberville said he “understands the urgency” of confirming the nominees, Politico reported.
• “Coach has always been willing to negotiate, but there has been no negotiation effort by the Biden administration or the Chuck Schumer administration,” Tuberville spokeswoman Hannah Eddins told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama reportedly appeared open to several options to resolve his deadlock on officer promotions on Tuesday, citing a growing sense of urgency over the months-long deadlock’s effect on the army

Senators emerged from an unusual closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon feeling as if little progress had been made, but with potential solutions on hold for Tuberville to consider, Politico. reported. As GOP pressure mounts on the Alabama senator to find a face-saving solution global crises show the need for a functioning American military, the situation may be progressing toward a solution that might not include the Pentagon overturning a policy of funding travel for the purpose of abortion, the reason Tuberville implemented his control in the first place.

“We have several things we can do,” Tuberville told reporters after leaving the meeting, according to Politico. “I understand the urgency. I’m not that hard on it. I understand that in the last few weeks we’ve had unique issues.”

“The conference presented a number of alternatives for the coach and he has to evaluate them,” Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa told Politico, using Tuberville’s nickname.

“Coach has always been willing to negotiate, but there has been no negotiation effort by the Biden administration or the Chuck Schumer administration,” Tuberville spokeswoman Hannah Eddins told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Tuberville told Politico that he began the meeting with “one or two options” on the table, but concluded with “five or six.” He has brought in Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, allies since he implemented retention in March, as well as Republican Sens. Ernst, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who last week . forced Tuberville to deny the votes one by one, in order to find a solution.

“I wish we would have had this six months ago,” Tuberville said after the meeting, Politico reported. “But we didn’t do it. And here we are, and hopefully, we can get through it and do something in a short period of time.”

A memo sent to Senate Republicans laid out four possibilities: the Pentagon withdraws the policy; Congress annuls it through legislation; service members must use private funds for abortion-related travel; or individual nominal votes on the 450 (and counting) candidates, seconds to a copy obtained by Punchbowl News.

Tuberville appeared to be mulling additional options after the meeting, including “maybe a lawsuit or something along those lines,” Politico reported. Republicans have also suggested shifting control to DOD-affected civilian nominees who are responsible for agency policies instead of officers, though Tuberville already has control over certain civilians. Others support a legal challenge with the help of anti-abortion groups.

Tuberville’s Senate R memo on possible exit ramps includes four options that are highly unlikely to happen. pic.twitter.com/GT2BX0ZahK

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) November 7, 2023

Separately, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and independent Sen. Krysten Sinema of Arizona are drafting a resolution that would change Senate rules that would allow nominees to be approved in bulk, according to Politico. The resolution doesn’t have enough support to pass, but it raises the stakes for the GOP to cultivate a resolution from within its own party.

The Pentagon it increased active in the Middle East since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and an increase in drones and rockets dams at bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria.

Tuberville supported individual confirmation votes for the highest-ranking officers in the Department of Defense (DOD), as well as for the Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps after the Commandant of the Marine Corps was General Eric Smith. hospitalized after an episode of cardiac arrest.

Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said As of Tuesday, the number of officers held by Tuberville’s control now stands at 448, including the deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet and defense attache to Israel.

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