Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville continues to hold up all military nominations in the Senate – and plans to until the military’s policy on funding abortion is changed.

Good.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent out a memo earlier this year authorizing traveling expenses to be paid in abortion cases, both for enlisted members and their families. This new policy went into effect on Feb. 16.

Unfortunately, this policy circumvents the law.

Separate National Defense Authorization Acts have been approved by the House and Senate, and are awaiting a compromise version to be hammered out in a joint conference committee. 

Missouri Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt can help resolve the standoff by adding language to the bill to eliminate Austin’s abortion policy. 

Sec. Austin’s decision, via a memo, to provide funding to facilitate abortions in the military continues an effort to politicize the military.

The Supreme Court, with its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, allows our elected officials to protect life. The states are battling this out, and many states now have laws protecting life. Austin’s authorization flies in the face of the Separation of Powers by skirting the Hyde Amendment and related federal statutes that prohibit taxpayers’ money from being used for abortion.

Only Congress, through legislation, can authorize such a law. 

These bald political acts carry a cost.

Many members of the Armed Forces are abandoning military careers due to politically correct or woke policies in the military that take away from the purpose and readiness of the services.

The Army was 15,000 short of its recruitment goals for last year. And this year, the Air Force and Army expect to be short in recruitment by 10,000. The Navy, too, expects to be short by 6,000 recruits.

The shrinking number of recruits echoes polling by Gallup saying U.S. citizens’ morale and belief in institutions is at an all-time low. This morale issue is tied directly to policies such as the COVID-19 “jab requirement,” instituting CRT readings, and appointing drag queen recruiting ambassadors.

Plus, the Joint Chiefs of Staff now promotes and defends instruction in “whiteness” at West Point.

This mismanagement of the military has contributed to the first-ever “weak” rating given by The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Military Strength. 

Due to Austin’s overreach, I encourage Sens. Hawley and Schmitt to support Sen. Tuberville’s hold on military nominees until Congress insists the policy is reversed and prohibits federal dollars from being used to facilitate elective abortions.

This would restore the Separation of Powers, remove politics from the bipartisan bill process, and send a clear message to the Pentagon that it should refrain from political pandering through social experiments – and keep its focus on military readiness for defense and preparation for future military conflict.