Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Thursday slammed President Joe Biden’s remarks from Finland calling the senator’s hold on military officer confirmation in the Senate “ridiculous.”
Biden had said of Tuberville at a press conference: “I’d be willing to talk to him if I thought there’s any possibility of him changing his ridiculous position he has. He’s jeopardizing U.S. security by what he’s doing. I expect the Republican Party to stand up, stand up and do something about it.”
Pres. Biden on Sen. Tuberville: "I'd be willing to talk to him if I thought there's any possibility of him changing his ridiculous position he has. He's jeopardizing U.S. security by what he's doing. I expect the Republican Party to stand up, stand up and do something about it." pic.twitter.com/QAKS7G3nIh
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 13, 2023
Tuberville responded by slamming Biden’s unwillingness to even talk to him, telling Breitbart News, “He can call me all the names he wants. Does that sound like anybody that wants to get anything done?”
“That’s what this place is about,” he added. “It’s about working with each other, talking it out, getting in situations where you can maybe compromise to a point. I mean, here’s a guy that doesn’t even want to talk.”
Tuberville continued: “He needs to negotiate all over the world. We got a war going on in Ukraine right now, that if he were to get out there and negotiated, or maybe even after the war started, to negotiate with both groups we can get this thing over. People are getting killed, but it seemed like this White House has no negotiating skills whatsoever.”
Tuberville has placed a hold on military officer nominations being confirmed in the Senate, preventing the Senate from confirming the nominations unanimously all at once in a blanket fashion.
He did so after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a new policy directing Department of Defense funds to pay for troops’ and their family members’ travel out of state to get abortions if they were stationed in a state that prohibited them.
The Pentagon issued the policy after the Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade.
Tuberville has argued that the policy violates the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funds paying for abortions except in the case of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is at risk. Tuberville has pointed out that Biden himself voted for that law.
Tuberville and other Republicans had expressed their opposition to the Pentagon in July 2022 before the policy was formalized.
Tuberville also warned the Pentagon that he would place holds on the nominations if they implemented the policy, but he said he only had one 10-minute conversation with Austin where he indicated there would be no compromise.
The White House and Democrats in recent days have turned up the pressure on Tuberville, as well as his fellow Republicans, in hopes that he will back down from this position.
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