Don’t roll Tuberville, GOP senator warns party leaders

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) warned Senate GOP leaders Tuesday not to circumvent Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) holds on Pentagon appointees, warning it would be a “mistake” for them to support a Democratic resolution to change Senate procedure.

The Democrats are offering a standing order resolution that would allow them to get around Tuberville’s holds, which the Alabama senator has put in place to protest the Pentagon’s abortion policies.

Scott says Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other members of the Senate GOP leadership should support Tuberville’s ability to block expedited consideration of nonpolitical military promotions in order to gain leverage with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who enacted a policy to reimburse the travel costs of service members who cross state lines to obtain abortions. 

“I support Tommy,” Scott said. “We ought to respect that a person has a different position, and actually I support his position. I think what the Biden administration did with regard to the abortion policy is not in compliance with the law.

“We should have had conversations, we should have had meetings long before now to try to figure out how to get a resolution, and we have to figure out how we support people. Tommy ran on this issue,” Scott explained. “Why would people attack him for doing something he ran on?” 

Scott made his comments to The Hill ahead of a special Senate GOP conference meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon on how to break the impasse on confirming more than 300 stalled military promotions. Tuberville has refused to allow them get confirmed by unanimous consent without actually receiving floor votes. 

Tensions boiled over on the Senate floor last week, when defense hawk Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) clashed with Tuberville when he blocked their attempt to move 115 military nominees without floor votes.  

Now, GOP senators are mulling a standing order resolution sponsored by Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) that would allow Democrats to move the nominees as a bloc instead of individually.  

Scott argues that such a change to Senate procedure in the 118th Congress would disempower individual senators.  

“Our leadership should support us,” he said. 

He argued Republicans should not vote for Reed’s standing order resolution. 

“I think it would be a mistake,” he said.  

McConnell last week reiterated his opposition to Tuberville’s hold on hundreds of military nominees.

“I’m sure you remember that I said this a bad idea quite a while ago. I still think it’s a bad idea, particularly applied to people who don’t make policy. So, I have been among those trying to convince Sen. Tuberville to express his opposition some other way,” the GOP leader said last week.

An ally to McConnell who requested anonymity to discuss the standoff emphasized that McConnell is doing what he thinks is in the best interests of national security and the Senate GOP conference.

Scott challenged McConnell for the Senate Republican leader’s job in November, losing in a 37-10 vote.