Tuberville releasing hold on hundreds of military promotions

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) announced on Tuesday that he is ending his months-long blockade on hundreds of military promotions.

Tuberville said that he is jumping on board with an idea presented by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) that would release all of his holds on military officers at the 3-star level and below.

A hold will remain in place for the roughly ten nominations for 4-star generals and officers.

“I am not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer. We just released them,” Tuberville told reporters after informing Senate Republicans of his decision. 

At issue was a Pentagon policy, enacted last year, that was put into place last year allowing service members to be reimbursed for travel to receive abortion care. In total, the holds lasted nearly 10 months and became a thorn in the side of the Senate GOP conference, with many hesitant to choose between the military and pro-life issues. 

The pressure on Tuberville to alter his tactics only increased as Senate Democrats planned to hold a vote in the coming weeks that would temporarily change the rules of the upper chamber in order to advance the more than 400 nominees that were being affected. 

Additionally, Sullivan, Ernst and multiple other Republicans with military backgrounds had gone to the Senate floor twice in recent weeks in an attempt to pass individual promotions, effectively taking that dispute public. 

Tuberville also faced tumult within the GOP over his holds. Sullivan, Ernst and multiple other GOP members with military backgrounds had gone to the Senate floor twice in recent weeks in an attempt to pass individual promotions, effectively taking that dispute public. 

Updated at 1:45 p.m.