‘I don’t care’: Tommy Tuberville digs in on blockade of hundreds of military promotions

Senator Tommy Tuberville is now expanding his claims to support his eight-month long blockade on more than 300 military promotions, saying he does not care if anyone in America’s Armed Forces gets promoted. So I think we’re a little overloaded to begin with.” On Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Tuberville’s “sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness.” He also said it is creating a situation for America’s defenses that is “unprecedented,” “unnecessary,” and “unsafe.” The Alabama Republican Senator began his hold on the promotions back in February, claiming he was taking action to stop every promotion that needed to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in response to the Pentagon’s decision to reimburse service members who need to travel out of state to obtain abortion services and related health care. So we got a weird standstill right now.” Asked about criticisms that his actions have put national security at risk, remarks that have come as high up as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Tuberville chuckled and said, “Well, for national security risk, they need to be going back to the old policy and getting our military ready because they’re the ones that can handle that. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley, the country’s highest-ranking military officer, is also required to relinquish his job by October.” In June, Military.com reported by the end of the year Tuberville’s hold could delay “the vast majority of the 852 total officers at those ranks,” in total, about 650.