In response to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade on military promotions, the Alabama Republican has faced pressure from leaders of the armed forces. And veterans. And every living former secretary of Defense. And congressional Democrats.
Yesterday, as NBC News reported, it was President Joe Biden’s turn.
President Joe Biden denounced Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of military nominations at a joint news conference with Finland’s president in Helsinki on Thursday, calling Tuberville’s actions “totally irresponsible.” … Biden, standing beside Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, said he would be willing to talk to Tuberville “if I thought there’s any possibility of him changing his ridiculous position. He’s jeopardizing U.S. security with what he’s doing.”
The Democrat went on to describe the GOP senator’s tantrum as “bizarre,” before turning his attention to Tuberville’s party.
“I expect the Republican Party to stand up — stand up and do something about it,” Biden added. “It’s within their power to do that. … I’m confident that the mainstream Republican Party no longer, does not support what he’s doing, but they got to stand up and be counted. That’s how it ends.”
Soon after, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to the far-right senator yesterday, adding that Austin explained to Tuberville how his holds are causing “uncertainty in the force” and jeopardizing “military readiness.”
The senator didn’t change course after the conversation, but he did suggest a shift is possible. NBC News’ report added: Tuberville told NBC News that he would consider lifting his blockade if the Senate would agree to vote on whether to keep the current policy and the Pentagon and the White House would promise to rescind it should the vote fail. “If it fails, it’s got to go back to the original,” Tuberville said of the policy. He had previously said he would lift his holds only if the policy were rescinded.
I’ll confess that I don’t fully know what the senator meant, especially when he said the policy must “go back to the original,” but I think this signaled at least some degree of flexibility. As for Tuberville’s GOP colleagues, there have been some Republicans willing to express their disagreement with him — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in May that he didn’t support the blockade on military promotions — and Sen. Lindsey Graham made some related comments yesterday. The South Carolinian said he agreed with Tuberville’s anti-abortion policy goal, but went on to tell NBC News, “The point about holding up promotions, we need to end that.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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