Duckworth: Military blockader Tuberville rejected 'multiple off-ramps' and 'backed himself into a corner'
United States Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) on Sunday tore into Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) for his ongoing blockade of hundreds of normally routine military appointments because servicemembers' medical benefits packages include assistance for abortion-related expenses.
"Let me start with this issue of these military promotions and what Tuberville's been doing," NBC Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd began.
"You heard your colleague, Senator [Dan] Sullivan [R-Alaska] say, Hey, look, it's a senator's prerogative. You've done it. A lot of people have done it.' One could argue doing it, having to do with if it's about Pentagon policy versus when it's not, I think is a, is is is certainly fair game there. So lemme ask this — are you willing to have a vote? Tuberville wants a vote. Are you willing to put a vote on this on the floor? Is this the best way out of this?" Todd asked.
READ MORE: Iraq veteran: 'Senator Redneck' Tuberville's military blockade is directly hurting Alabama
"We've given him many options for a vote and he's turned them all down," replied Duckworth, who echoed President Joe Biden's criticism of Tuberville last Thursday in Helsinki, Finland.
"[Senator] Joni Ernst [R-Iowa] has a bill that goes even further than where Senator Tuberville is he declined that vote. And Republican leadership has offered him multiple off-ramps to this, and he's backed himself into a corner," Duckworth said.
"I mean, you know, what he's saying is, 'Well, Democrats need to pass a national codification of Roe v. Wade.' We would love to do that. Obviously, that's not gonna happen anytime soon with the Senate as closely split as it is," Duckworth continued. "And so, you know, I'm gonna just say what President Biden has said. It is 'bizarre' for Senator Tuberville to say that he's not jeopardizing national security when he injects politics into the defense process, and frankly, this is not the time to do it. Not when there is a war going on in Europe, not when American leadership is vital to the international global order. And for him to really jeopardize our national security by injecting politics and, and politics and preventing our military leaders from being able to take their positions and do their job is really, you know, it's beyond distressing."
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