Senate Democrats are trying to circumvent long-standing Senate rules to allow taxpayer funding of abortion expenses by the Department of Defense. Sadly, it is not clear if many self-proclaimed pro-life Republicans are willing to fight against this terrible Biden administration policy. 

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration has sought to expand abortion wherever possible. The Department of Defense (DoD) issued a policy allowing military servicewomen to travel across state lines to obtain abortions and receive reimbursement for that travel. Since this is contrary to federal law that prevents the DoD from funding or facilitating abortions, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) warned the Secretary of Defense that he would use his power as a Senator to object to approving military promotions by unanimous consent if the policy was not rescinded. The Secretary, backed by the administration and Senate Democrats, refused even to discuss the matter, so Sen. Tuberville objected to military promotions being passed without votes. After ten months and over 350 nominations waiting to be moved forward, Democrats sitting on the Senate Armed Forces Committee (SASC) are angry that Senator Tuberville has kept his word.

Now, Democrats are proposing a procedural rule change to stop Senator Tuberville and handicap the right of every Senator to demand votes on controversial nominations. SASC Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) have introduced a resolution that will change the rules for one year to allow votes on military promotions en bloc or in mass (S. Res. 444). Under the current rules, each nomination must be brought up separately and every Senator given the chance to object to its passage by voice vote.  This change would strip Republicans who are in the minority of an important tool to use when objecting to the majority’s procedural control. The DoD has already bypassed Congressional authority on this issue and now Senate Democrats want to take even more power away.

During this time, Sen. Tuberville has uncovered facts about the dangerous ideologies of some of the Biden military nominees. Several have records of pushing the left’s “woke” agenda on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory principles. If Senate Democrats successfully change the rules, these liberal generals will be approved without a debate or discussion. 

Senate Republicans may differ in opinion on life-issue strategy options, but they can agree not to hand over their power to Democrats. We ask that you contact your Senators and ask them to oppose the rule change on military promotions, S. Res. 444.