The Pentagon on Tuesday blasted Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for single-handedly blocking the promotion of 300 military members, likening the holdup to being unprepared on the football field.
Tuberville, the former head coach for Auburn University, among others, pledged to block all of President Joe Biden’s military appointments and promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s policy that allows service members to be reimbursed if they need to travel out of state to get an abortion.
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“Imagine going into the football season with a bunch of acting coaches for each of our teams with a regulation that limits any of those acting coaches from presuming that he or she [is] actually going to lead the team, and those acting coaches who come up through the organization are now responsible for not only being the offensive and defensive coordinators but also acting as the head coach,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday. “In the short term, they’re likely going to make things happen because that’s what good leaders do, but what happens when performance on the field becomes impacted? Over time, how are you going to deal with the uncertainty within the coaching staff in the locker room in terms of who’s in charge, how are we going to affect performance, and then, who are the fans going to hold accountable?”
Ryder said the longer the blanket hold is in place, the more “uncertainty and friction” it will create within the ranks, which could have a devastating effect on military families. He added that the Pentagon has been in touch with lawmakers and “remains engaged” in communicating its position and the impact Tuberville’s action is having on the military.
Ryder’s comments come on the heels of the secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force calling on Tuberville to stop his “dangerous hold.”
“Any claim that holding up the promotions of top officers does not directly damage the military is wrong — plain and simple,” the three secretaries wrote in an opinion piece published Monday in the Washington Post. They also accused the Alabama Republican of putting national security “at risk.”
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“Senators have many legislative and oversight tools to show their opposition to a specific policy,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall wrote. “They are free to introduce legislation, gather support for that legislation, and pass it. But placing a blanket hold on all general and flag officer nominees, who as apolitical officials have traditionally been exempt from the hold process, is unfair to these military leaders and their families. And it is putting our national security at risk,”
Tuberville’s office has denied he is holding up nominations because Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could bring each nominations to a solitary vote instead of passing them in batches via unanimous consent.
LIVE: @PentagonPresSec Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder holds a news briefing at the Pentagon. https://t.co/AJlfGWB8BY
— Department of Defense ?? (@DeptofDefense) September 5, 2023
