The Republican senator from Alabama spent 2023 turning himself into one of the most hated men in Washington—even by members of his own party.
Senator Tommy Tuberville’s nearly yearlong protest against the Department of Defense’s abortion policy brings to mind an old Chinese proverb that translates to, “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.” It means that when you take on something risky—or in this case, downright stupid—it’s easier to keep going than to face the consequences of trying to stop.
For nine months, Tuberville single-handedly blocked more than 450 military promotions, throwing the entire U.S. military into disarray. According to the Alabama Republican, this was the best way to protest the department’s policy of reimbursing service members who have to travel out of their state of deployment for an abortion.
Tuberville partially relented on December 5, when he agreed to allow most of those promotions to go forward with the exception of four-star generals. He then dropped those remaining holds this week, and the Senate promptly confirmed 11 nominees to that position.
After all those months of protesting, Tuberville accomplished … nothing. The Defense Department’s abortion policy is still in place. The only difference is that now, all of the department leadership and pretty much every other senator is angry with him.
The abortion thing was always a red herring. He’s been holding out so he could pack the military’s top brass with Trump loyalists. It’s part of Project 2025, since it will require cooperation from the military to actually be successful.
Just like how republicans stalled on a major SCOTUS appointment during Obama’s term, choosing to wait until Trump was in office. But then refused to wait for Biden to take office, and rammed another appointment through at the end of Trump’s term.
So he failed at that too? Or am I missing something
That part appears to have failed.
He did it too early, perhaps, thinking that he could hold out for the entire presidential term. He’d have gotten away with it had he waited until Biden’s second or third year.