Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) continues to blockade the confirmation of hundreds of military appointments and promotions, in an ongoing attempt to try to force the Pentagon to rescind a policy that pays for personnel to take leave to states where abortion is legal.
But the former football coach doesn’t seem to understand the policy he is blocking, said former Mike Pence aide and White House press secretary Alyssa Farah Griffin on CNN Tuesday.
Anchor Kaitlan Collins explained he is facing “criticism when it comes to his hold on military nominations in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy. He said today he’s not budging on that. I mean, we’re hearing in the Secretaries of the Army and the Navy and the Air Force, who you heard speaking to Jake Tapper earlier, saying this is a national security risk, in their view.”
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“It’s a readiness crisis,” said Griffin. “It is a shame that for the first time in over 100 years the Marine Corps, for example, is without a permanent commandant.”
“Listen, I strongly support the Hyde Amendment, meaning taxpayer dollars should not fund abortion,” she continued. “That is not what this DOD policy does. It simply gives paid travel to people who may go and seek an abortion. I think it is a misreading of the policy by Senator Tuberville.”
The military gives all soldiers travel expenditures if they have to get a medical procedure in another state, regardless of the service.
Furthermore, Griffin added, “I think his Republican colleagues need to rally around him and say, we, as Republicans, are the pro-military party, you are actually affecting national security readiness.”
Tuberville made veterans affairs one of his key issues when running for the Senate. He serves on both the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee. He also pledged he would donate “every dime” he made in Washington to Alabama veterans. As of July 2023, a fact-checker hasn’t been able to find any evidence he’s done so.
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Alyssa Farah Griffin on Tuberville’s military blockade
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