The Republican senator from Alabama spent 2023 turning himself into one of the most hated men in Washingtonāeven by members of his own party.
Senator Tommy Tubervilleās nearly yearlong protest against the Department of Defenseās abortion policy brings to mind an old Chinese proverb that translates to, āHe who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.ā It means that when you take on something riskyāor in this case, downright stupidāitās 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 departmentās 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 ā¦ nothing. The Defense Departmentās 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. Heās been holding out so he could pack the militaryās top brass with Trump loyalists. Itās 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 Obamaās 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 Trumpās 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. Heād have gotten away with it had he waited until Bidenās second or third year.