A pair of Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are seeking an investigation by the federal agency known as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into the months-long blockade by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) of nominations for high-ranking posts across the U.S. military.
Tuberville’s objections derailing the nominations process for months and months were in outrage over the Defense Department offering travel assistance to personnel seeking an abortion who would need to look beyond their closest environment to actually access the procedure and related care. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans in state governments across the country have run with a patchwork of new restrictions on the procedure, though there has also been progress on the other side, meaning with the proactive implementation in certain states of abortion protections.
The Democrats who wrote to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro asking for this probe included Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.). They sought an investigation that would uncover the effects from Tuberville’s actions on “overall military readiness,” national security, and military families. The duo highlighted particularly concerning developments among affected families, since military figures whose anticipated career advancements were suddenly upended were left with sudden struggles in dealing with everyday concerns.
“According to the Majority staff of the Senate Armed Service Committee, the hold resulted in instances of military spouses becoming unemployed because of their spouse’s career and location limbo; children of servicemembers ending up not enrolled in schools because expected change-of-station moves were blocked; and families having anticipated coast-to-coast moves cancelled after their belongings had already been shipped,” they said. And it was effectively all for nothing, since Tuberville eventually gave up his campaign of procedural objections without securing any actual change in Defense Department policy. The Senate had been working on the potential establishment of updated confirmation procedures to get around the Alabamian’s antics.
