One anti-abortion senator against the Pentagon

Hundreds of military nominations in the United States are being held up amid a deepening battle over the Pentagon paying servicewomen to cross state lines for abortions. The blockade on military promotions from Tommy Tuberville, the Alabama Republican senator, follows the Pentagon refusing to change its policy on paying for service members to travel to another state to receive abortion and other reproductive services. More than 300 senior officer nominations are now on hold as part of the stand-off. The defence department pays for service members to travel to states that still offer reproductive healthcare following last year’s ruling by the US Supreme Court overturning the historic 1973 Roe v Wade case, which had made abortions legal across America. A Pentagon spokeswoman said there would no backing away from the policy. Promotions have to be confirmed by the Democrat-led Senate but can be put on “hold”. As a result of the impasse between defence chiefs and Tuberville, for the first time in US history three of the services — the army, navy and marine corps — are currently being commanded by interim officers following the retirement of their chiefs. In the most bizarre case, the first woman to be nominated as chief of naval operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, should have taken charge on Monday, replacing Admiral Mike Gilday. Instead, in a handover ceremony she was appointed in an acting capacity. Without her official Senate confirmation, she can legally perform her duties as the top officer but will not be able to issue guidance to the service as incoming chiefs are normally required to do. The guidance would put her personal stamp on the way ahead for the US navy facing an increasing threat from China’s maritime aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Calling the situation “unprecedented”, the defence secretary Lloyd Austin said: “Because of this blanket hold, starting today, for the first time in the history of the department of defence, three of our military services are operating without Senate-confirmed leaders. This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary and it is unsafe.” Tuberville, however, has refused to budge. He is a member of the Senate’s armed services committee, which vets all top military appointments. “We’re not going to change our policy on ensuring that every single service member has equitable access to reproductive health care,” Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, said at a briefing. “If you are a service member stationed in a state that has rolled back or restricted healthcare access, you are often stationed there because you are assigned there. It is not that you choose to go there,” she said. “A service member in Alabama deserves to have the same access to healthcare as a service member in California [or] stationed in Korea.” The next high-profile job to be held up could be at the end of next month, when General Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, retires. President Biden’s chosen replacement for Milley, General Charles Q Brown, would remain in the panel as air force chief of staff until approved by the Senate. Tuberville says the Pentagon’s assistance to servicewomen seeking abortions is illegal. Under the Supreme Court ruling in June last year, the nine judges, six of whom were appointed by Republican presidents, approved Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks. It meant individual states had the right to ban abortions. But about half of the 50 US states still provide such healthcare services. The Pentagon spokeswoman added: “The department does not have an abortion policy. We have a healthcare policy and we have a travel policy that allows for our service members to take advantage of healthcare that should be accessible to them.” Aiming remarks at Tuberville, she pointed out that his state of Alabama was host to the Pentagon’s defence missile agency. “Right now it is being dutifully commanded by a one-star general but he is filling the role of a three-star general,” she said.