Pence: ‘I commend Sen. Tuberville’ blocking military promotions

(NewsNation) — GOP presidential candidate Mike Pence on Wednesday praised an Alabama senator for blocking military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy.

“I commend Senator Tuberville. Rather than asking him to stand down, I’d ask the Pentagon to stand down. I promise you if I’m president of the United States, we’re going to get all this ‘woke’ business out of the Pentagon,” Pence told NewsNation host Leland Vittert during a town hall appearance.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is holding up more than 300 nonpolitical military promotions. He said he will only release the holds if the Pentagon reverses its policy of paying for service members to travel across state lines to obtain abortions.

Pence thinks the Pentagon policy threatens states with anti-abortion laws in place.

“The very idea that generals at the Pentagon on some liberal Democrat agenda are using taxpayer dollars to undermine state laws for protecting unborn children is just wrong,” Pence told Vittert.

When asked what he would do if the party roles were reversed in the blockage of military promotions, the former vice president said, “If I’m president of the United States and some liberal Democrat says ‘I’m going to hold up promotions in the military unless you advance some liberal social agenda at the Pentagon,’ I’d go to the American people and see what they think about that.”

Tuberville’s blockade is nearing the six-month mark. The Pentagon insists it is “damaging” to national security and puts military leaders in a tough position.

“What we will still continue to do here at the Pentagon is to highlight how damaging this is for our national security, for our readiness, for our military families,” Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary at the Pentagon, told NewsNation last week. “That’s something that a senator who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee should really understand.”

Pence said the holds are about Tuberville “taking a stand” and “defending the rights of millions, tens of millions pro-life taxpaying Americans.”

“Look, we are happy to invest in our national defense, we are happy to invest especially in our military personnel but using taxpayer dollars for the military to advance a social agenda – that’s not what it’s there for and I’d take that to the country,” Pence stressed.

Tuberville wants the Pentagon to reverse its policy and have Congress vote on the issue. If the Pentagon policy is not approved through legislation, then service members would not be able to receive leave and reimbursement for transportation costs incurred by traveling across state lines to abortion providers.

Biden administration officials have pointed to an opinion issued last year by the Department of Justice, saying U.S. law only restricts the use of federal funds to “perform abortions” but doesn’t prohibit the use of funds to pay per diem or travel expenses.

The Hill contributed to this report.