Military veteran Skyleigh Heinen lent her voice to groups calling for an end to Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville‘s contentious hold up of military promotions to protest current Pentagon policy on abortion for service members.
[NOTE: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called the Tuberville action — or inaction — “unprecedented in its scale and scope” and “a clear risk to U.S. military readiness, especially at this critical time.”]
Heinen, a veteran and progressive activist, directs her frustration not merely at Tuberville, however, but at what she characterizes as his Senate enablers, who, she says, are allowing the Alabama Senator to hold “our military hostage.”
Heinen calls out GOP leadership in general, specifically blasting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell with her request to stop Tuberville’s blockade. “You have the power,” she writes, “to bypass him entirely.”
Tuberville — who characterizes tangential military logistics support like travel reimbursement and paid leave as the military “paying for abortions” with taxpayer money — has delayed hundreds of promotions and left multiple high-level command positions unfilled in his demand for concessions on the abortion policy.
This is not just on @SenTuberville but the entire @SenateGOP for allowing this one Senator to hold our military hostage by refusing to promote top military positions.
— Skyleigh Heinen (@Sky_Lee_1) July 28, 2023
–@LeaderMcConnell @SenateGOP you’re responsible for this, you have the power to bypass him entirely. pic.twitter.com/wvlUzyMQpE
Tuberville’s predecessor representing Alabama in the Senate, Doug Jones, has called Tuberville out for the characterization, writing: “That’s total BS Tommy. You know damn well that the military isn’t ‘paying for abortions.’ Paying for travel and providing paid medical leave is not -NOT-paying for the medical services.”
That’s total BS Tommy.
— Doug Jones (@DougJones) July 20, 2023
You know damn well that the military isn’t “paying for abortions.”Paying for travel and providing paid medical leave is not -NOT-paying for the medical services. Well, on second thought, maybe you just don’t understand it.
What DOD is doing is making… https://t.co/X0LN7telp9
But Tuberville boasts that he has the support of those in the military, recently putting out a press release claiming that 5,000 veterans are on his side. (Note: there are approximately 16.5 million military veterans in the U.S.)
On the other side, with Heinen, an organization called VoteVets, a progressive veteran advocacy group, has said that Tuberville’s culture war on abortion policy leaves the U.S. military increasingly unprepared for real war.
VoteVets recently released a video ripping Tuberville’s tactics, saying the Senator was playing into the hands of U.S. enemies. (See below.)
Heinen and company, finding Tuberville intransigent, are now calling on his enablers to push the promotions forward and fill the critical gaps in the military command. McConnell has so far been unwilling to challenge Tuberville’s position.
It’s a position even conservative Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is worried about, calling the global situation “dangerous.” Cassidy has said of Tuberville’s move: “I understand the senator’s concern, but it’s a dangerous world right now, and we want to make sure that we’re not sacrificing readiness.”
