Veterans group calls on Rick Scott to help break Tuberville hold on military promotions

The liberal veterans group VoteVets pressured Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in a new political ad to help break Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville's roughly five-month hold on more than 300 military nominations.

In the latest ad, VoteVets features a Florida veteran who accuses Scott of being "AWOL" on the blockade from Tuberville, despite the Florida senator touting his status as a Navy veteran.

"Senator, wearing that hat doesn't make you a hero when you're hanging our military out to dry," the veteran said in the ad, referring to a Navy hat Scott has been pictured wearing. "Stop the block on military promotions and let our leaders lead."

There was no immediate word from Scott. The Hill has reached out to his office for comment on this story.

Scott has not publicly commented on the issue since May, when he told The Washington Examiner the Pentagon was not "complying with the law, so I think coach Tuberville has every right to do what he's doing."

VoteVets said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the ad will run for two weeks in Florida.

The liberal organization has blasted Tuberville for the holds in several political ads this year, including one that aired in the senator's home state of Alabama. Last month, female Democratic lawmakers spoke out against the senator's hold in a VoteVets ad.

Tuberville — who is holding up the nominations to protest a Defense Department policy that provides paid leave and reimburses travel costs for servicemembers who cross state lines for abortion services — has now left the Navy, Army and Marines without confirmed leaders.

The Pentagon has refused to negotiate with Tuberville, who in turn has doubled down and rejected off-ramps from some frustrated Republican colleagues. The GOP, however, has remained largely silent on the issue publicly.

On Tuesday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a press briefing the administration was "not going to change our policy on ensuring that every single service member has equitable access reproductive healthcare."

"I think you should ask Senator Tuberville. We've certainly asked him how this ends," Singh said in response to a reporter's question on how the standoff ends. "We've been very clear we don't have anything to negotiate with here."

Steven Stafford, the communications director for Tuberville, said in an emailed response after the briefing that the Pentagon could "end the holds today."

"But the Biden Administration seems to think that illegally spending taxpayer dollars on abortion is more important than getting their senior military nominees confirmed," Stafford wrote. "That is the tradeoff that Secretary Austin has made every single day since this started."