Lloyd Austin says Tommy Tuberville’s holds on military promotions is a ‘national security issue’

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of military nominations over his objections to the Pentagon’s policy on abortions is affecting both national security and military readiness.

“This is a national security issue. It’s a readiness issue. And we shouldn’t kid ourselves, I think any member of the Senate Armed Services Committee knows that,” Austin told CNN.  

Military promotions are usually routinely approved by Congress, but Tuberville, of Alabama, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has blocked hundreds of such appointments, citing his objection to a Pentagon policy that provides paid time off and covers travel costs for service members and dependents seeking abortions. Tuberville has maintained that his holds will not erode the armed forces’ readiness.

“We have a policy that allows our troops to get access to noncovered reproductive health care and I think that’s an important policy,” Austin told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“One in 5 of my troops … is a woman and our women provide tremendous value to this force, and I think we need to do everything we can to take care of them,” he added.

The defense secretary noted that he spoke to Tuberville in March and said he will “continue to engage” with the Alabama Republican to try to clear the impasse, though he added that service members will still be reimbursed for abortion-related travel expenses.

“That’s our policy,” Austin said.

As a result of Tuberville’s holds, the Marine Corps is without a confirmed chief for the first time in more than 150 years, and a Pentagon spokesperson said as many as 650 military leadership positions may be vacant by year’s end if the holds continue.

Austin’s comments echoed those of Air Force Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown, President Joe Biden’s pick to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who on Tuesday told the Armed Services Committee that the holds could affect readiness, with less experienced deputies having to take up leadership positions temporarily, and could discourage junior officers from staying in the military while creating financial and logistical burdens for troops’ families.

A spokesperson for Tuberville told NBC News in May, when Brown’s nomination was announced, that the hold would also apply to Brown. The term of the current Joint Chiefs chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley, ends in October.

Tuberville’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Biden, in a joint press conference with Finland’s president on Thursday, 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.”

“I expect the Republican party to stand up — stand up and do something about it,” Biden continued.

“The idea that we don’t have a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the idea that we have all these promotions that are in abeyance right now and we don’t know what’s going to happen, the idea they we’re injecting into fundamental foreign policy decisions what in fact is a domestic social debate on social issues, is bizarre,” Biden said. “I don’t ever recall it happening, ever. And it’s just totally irresponsible, in my view.”

“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,” Biden said. “That’s how it ends.”