For months now, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has been putting a hold on hundreds of military nominations and promotions. For this reason, Democrats have accused Tuberville of “reckless” and “dangerous” behavior that undermines U.S. military readiness.
Tuberville has long struck me as one of the most obtuse members of Congress (see the recent controversy he sparked over whether white nationalists are racist). So I assumed they were right. Upon further review, however, I think the assumption that Tuberville is acting without reason with his obstructions is unfair to Tuberville.
Let’s start with something that isn’t fully appreciated: Progressives are almost always the aggressors in a culture war. For better or worse, they are the ones pushing for change, while conservatives are more likely to defend the status quo. That same dynamic is at play here.
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Of course, the lengthy back-and-forth recriminations have made it difficult to determine “who started it.” But Tuberville’s hold is in response to a new policy imposed by the Department of Defense back in February.
Among other things, the policy provides travel and transportation allowances for service members or dependents seeking an abortion who are serving in a state where such “health care services” are no longer available.
While Tuberville has caught a lot of flak, many cultural conservatives see such skirmishes within the larger context of a containment policy. It’s a domestic version of the domino theory.
Progressives are never sated by “progress,” which is to say they are always on offense. In this instance, they are using the military to engage in a form of social engineering, based on the assumption that access to abortion is a fundamental right.
And they are using taxpayer dollars to achieve their vision.
Progressives lack the votes to go about this in a direct manner; so they instead attempt to impose their worldview via executive orders and the administrative state. To stop this, Tuberville is likely using the only procedural recourse available to him.
Tuberville is guilty of having the audacity to think that elected leaders—not “the Pentagon”—should have a say in this policy.
What is more, no one should be surprised by Tuberville’s actions.
“Secretary Austin’s new abortion policy is immoral and arguably illegal,” Tuberville warned back in March. “If he wants to change the law, he needs to go through Congress.”
To prove his point, Tuberville has provided an exit ramp for anyone hoping to move past this standoff. According to NBC News, “Tuberville says he wants a vote on a bill introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), that would codify the Pentagon abortion policy into law, and that he will end his blockade if it passes.”
This is to say that Tuberville’s position does not seem absurd or evil to me.
Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention that some conservatives disagree.
One of them is Washington Post columnist Hugh Hewitt. According to Hewitt, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s policy is bad, but “that doesn’t excuse Tuberville’s decision to imperil the men and women of the U.S. military. And that’s exactly what he’s doing.”
Hewitt went on to say that “On every level, this action by the Alabama senator is morally and strategically wrong, the sort of self-inflicted scar that invites a future Republican primary challenge, or maybe a faceoff against a retired military hero on the Democratic side.”
Just last week, I was on Hewitt’s radio show, and during one of our segments, he surprised me with a question about this topic. Being in the midst of an all-consuming book launch, I was woefully unprepared, and essentially begged off.
Fortunately for Hewitt, he has had other guests who have come equipped with strong opinions.
“What happens when Senator Left Wing says, ‘I’m not going to approve anyone until DOD cuts its entire fuel budget down to zero?’” asked retired Adm. James Stavridis in an earlier interview with Hewitt.
Certainly, the potential unintended consequences of Tuberville’s hold could be severe, making one wonder if the cost-benefit analysis is prudent.
Other conservatives believe it is.
After my appearance, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got the same question from Hewitt, saying that he doesn’t think Tuberville should release the hold: “And the reason is, the military’s policy is not following U.S. law. They are using tax dollars,” DeSantis said. “They’re funding abortion tourism, which is not an appropriate thing for the military to be doing.”
On this issue, Tuberville may or may not be correct. But what he’s up to here can’t be dismissed as crazy or dumb. This is a very serious debate, and I am admittedly late to it. But it’s one worth having.
