tommy-tuberville-military-promotion-holds

When Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) was asked in a July TV interview about his colleague’s decision to put a hold on hundreds of military promotions, Sullivan defended Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), saying it was his “right” to stall the promotions and that the impasse needed to be solved by a compromise.

But behind the scenes, the Marine Corps Reserve colonel was desperately trying to reach a solution with the senator from Alabama, who goes by “Coach” in reference to his former title at Auburn University, as Sullivan grew increasingly concerned about the blanket hold’s effect on military members and their families.

Sullivan, along with several other veterans who sit on the Armed Services Committee, finally broke Tuberville’s unprecedented blockade over a Biden administration abortion policy last week after a bipartisan pressure campaign that involved considerable political risk.

The 10-month-long saga challenged the committee with oversight over the U.S. military, which is typically more bipartisan than other Senate panels, and bitter rifts still remain over Tuberville’s standoff.

Tuberville declined an interview request for this story, but told reporters last week that he had dropped most of the holds after he realized he would not be able to extract any policy victory from the situation.

“We got all we could get,” he said.

Tuberville believes he did the conference a “favor” and acted like a team player by dropping his holds and allowing Republicans to skip a tough vote, according to a Senate aide, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private deliberations. And the former football coach’s blockade didn’t seem to damage him significantly back home in ruby-red Alabama, where criticism from President Biden and Democrats is not exactly a liability.