Biden decries US Republican senator's 'ridiculous' hold on military appointments

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden assailed on Thursday Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville's hold on military appointments, saying the political maneuvering is compromising national security.

Tuberville's tactic to apply pressure on the administration to change the Pentagon's abortion policy has jeopardized key appointments with the Marine Corps currently operating without a commandant, and an uncertain future for Biden's pick to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Biden said he would talk to Tuberville to negotiate an end to the pause if he thought "there's any possibility of changing this ridiculous position," saying the senator is "jeopardizing US security."

"The idea that we're injecting into fundamental foreign policy decisions what in fact, is a domestic debate on social issues is bizarre. I don't ever recall that happening, ever, and it's just totally irresponsible, in my view," he said.

"I expect the Republican Party to stand up and do something about it. It's in their power to do that," he added.

The Pentagon said Monday that as many as 650 military leadership positions could be vacant by year's end without a resolution to the impasse. There are currently 265 general and flag officer positions that are stalled in the Senate, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.

The Senate must approve all administration nominees, and the sign-off is traditionally a rapid process.

But Tuberville, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has sought to pressure Biden into changing course on Pentagon policy allowing service members and their dependents to receive reimbursement for travel expenses and paid time off to receive reproductive health care, including abortion, in states where the procedure is legal.

The policy was instituted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark legal ruling that had enshrined federal abortion protections across the country for half a century.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin defended the policy in an interview with CNN aired Thursday, saying Tuberville's maneuvering is harming US military 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 said. "One in five 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."