Republicans Gang Up on Tuberville on Senate Floor: ‘My Colleague from Alabama Is 100% Wrong’

A spectacle unfolded on the Senate floor Wednesday night when several Republicans took turns challenging Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) holds on some of the hundreds of military nominees awaiting Senate confirmation.

Tuberville has placed holds on more than 300 nominations to the Department of Defense made by President Joe Biden. The senator said he will continue doing so until the Pentagon revokes a policy reimbursing out-of-state travel expenses for service members who seek abortions, but are stationed in states where the procedure is illegal.

Most such nominees are typically confirmed without a vote, but rather via unanimous consent. For months, Tuberville has used a Senate rule allowing him to singlehandedly block military nominees merely by informing Senate leadership about the hold. Tuberville has countered by saying Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) can bring the nominees to the floor. However, one estimate says doing so for that many nominees would consume hundreds of hours of floor time.

On Wednesday, the Senate did just that by bringing a series of nominations to the floor. However, Tuberville, who was physically present in the chamber, objected each time.

Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Todd Young (R-IN) all attempted to seek unanimous consent to confirm various nominees whose credentials they laid out in great detail.

At one point, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) rose to say he is concerned about military readiness, given that so many positions are unfilled. He then addressed Tuberville to ask whether he would be willing to accept an arrangement by which private charities would reimburse service members who travel out-of-state to obtain abortions instead of the federal government.

“Would that satisfy you and allow this impasse to be resolved?” Romney asked.

“Senator, that’s the type of negotiation I was– been looking for for the last nine months,” Tuberville responded. “Nobody, zero, has come to me with any alternatives to bypass to get this done.”

“Would that be acceptable?” Romney reiterated.

“It would be a good starting point,” he replied.

Moments later, Sullivan expressed frustration with Tuberville’s objections:

“My colleague from Alabama has said publicly, ‘Hey, bring ’em up one at a time and we’re asking for a voice vote,'” Sullivan said. “So, we’re doing what he said. Not sure why he’s objecting. Maybe he can explain that in a minute when I bring up another [nominee].”

He added, “I don’t understand. And look, we can go in and out of readiness, but my colleague from Alabama is 100% wrong.”

Tuberville continued his objections to subsequent nominees.

Watch above via C-SPAN.