Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s monthslong hold on hundreds of high-ranking military promotions is emerging as a point of contention among the GOP presidential candidates as they prepare to meet in their third debate Wednesday.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley often tout their personal family connections to the military on the trail — but their responses to Tuberville have placed them at opposite ends of the spectrum among 2024 candidates. Both are condemning the Defense Department policy that led to Tuberville’s hold: funding leave and out-of-state travel for members of the military seeking abortions.
But Scott is praising Tuberville as being “right on the issue,” while Haley says the Alabama senator’s approach is hurting military families.
“What the Department of Defense did was wrong. They are supposed to go through Congress to change things like that, and they didn’t,” Haley said at a town hall event in New Hampshire last week.
“Having said that, I do not think you hold military families hostage for something like this,” she added. “Military families sacrifice enough. Don’t go and hold them out and make them political when they don’t want to do it.”
Haley’s husband began serving a yearlong deployment in Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard in June, and she has said that her husband has called to ask if the blockade on promotions is true, illustrating how far-reaching the issue has been for military families.
Scott, meanwhile, said he is supporting Tuberville’s hold on military promotions during a moderated conversation at Georgetown University last month, adding that he wouldn’t be doing that if he thought it was affecting military leadership.
“No. 1, I think its purpose for clarifying policy that’s really important to our military is factually strong,” said Scott, whose brothers and father have all served in the military. “No. 2, I would say that the current lack of focus of our military is problematic and challenging, something that we should be very concerned with.”
The state Democratic Party has seized on Scott’s support for the hold, accusing him of “undermining military readiness.”
“South Carolina has thousands of families on our eight military bases, yet Tim Scott and MAGA Republicans are all too ready to put their anti-abortion extremism above our nation’s service members,” said state Democratic Party spokesman Alyssa Bradley.
Scott’s take on the issue is in line with another 2024 candidate with a personal connection to the military: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the only veteran in the primary field.
During an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” last week, he said Tuberville shouldn’t lift his hold on military promotions because “we’re trying to force a change in Pentagon policy to conform them to the law.”
DeSantis also pointed out that the Senate has the ability to “promote people on an individual basis,” though Democrats have asserted that process isn’t feasible given the number of promotions in limbo. Scott has made the same point on the trail, too.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Tuberville’s hold “completely out of line” during the New Hampshire First in the Nation leadership summit in October, particularly in light of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“We need our military to be prepared,” Christie said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Evan Massoud is a political analyst with a knack for dissecting policy and governance. He provides readers with informed perspectives on political developments at home and abroad. Evan’s dedication to civic engagement extends to volunteering in local politics.
