November 14, 2023
Washington, D.C.
Conservatives are proud to stand behind Sen. Tommy Tuberville in his fight to protect the lives of the unborn. For months, Sen. Tuberville has stood fearlessly and alone in protest of an illegal policy implemented by the Department of Defense (DOD) to pay for service member travel in order to obtain an abortion.
He has done so by objecting to the unanimous consent passage of military promotions, using the leverage granted to every single Senator to slow down these promotions in protest of the DOD’s illegal policy.
Sen. Tuberville’s stand is unique. When the DOD signaled they would implement this abortion travel policy, he warned them not to do it. DOD Secretary Lloyd Austin did it anyway. Yet instead of simply demanding a vote on legislation he knows will fail, Sen. Tuberville chose to maximize his leverage with a tactic that actually withholds something the White House wants.
To be clear, Sen. Tuberville is merely blocking the unanimous consent package of groups of these promotions – which Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could still bring to the floor and vote on at any time. Schumer has chosen not to do so, which has resulted in a backlog of military promotions. (To hear more from Sen. Tuberville, watch his recent interview with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.)
Sen. Tuberville has faced constant attacks by Democrats for his stand. But lately, he is coming under fire from some in his own party who are publicly attacking him for his tactic while offering no proposals of their own to credibly address DOD’s outrageous policy.
Even worse, there are some Senate Republicans who now want to unite with Senate Democrats to modify Senate procedures to strip every senator of the right to block the unanimous consent passage of military nominations and promotions. We strongly oppose this effort, which would further degrade the rights of elected senators. Moreover, because this Standing Order is only being proposed to block Sen. Tuberville’s efforts to respond to DOD’s abortion policy, we view a vote on this Standing Order as a proxy vote on the abortion policy itself.
Specifically, this Standing Order would allow any senator to proceed to up to two or more nominations or promotions at a time, with a single vote. While this sounds innocuous, this undercuts the efforts of conservative senators (the senators most willing to use their procedural rights to fight for just causes) to use their leverage to block or respond to efforts by the left.
Furthermore, this Standing Order has no limiting principle. It is not far-fetched to suggest that a process put in place to confirm “two or more” military nominations or promotions will then quickly turn into confirming ambassadors in large groups, then judges, and also combining large numbers of bills into one package, for one vote. This rapid devolution is exactly what we saw when the nuclear option was imposed on the Senate. The nuclear option – which eliminated the filibuster for nominations – was originally imposed for a select group of judicial and executive branch nominations. In under a decade, it expanded to cover nominations to the Supreme Court, Cabinet level officials, and even the post-cloture debate time on huge categories of nominations.
Rather than attacking Sen. Tuberville publicly over his tactic and threatening to join Democrats in changing the rules of the Senate, Senate Republicans should either back up their colleague, or propose a different solution to credibly fight this outrageous policy from Biden’s DOD.
It is rare to find true courage in Washington. It is even more uncommon to find sustained courage under pressure – but this defines Sen. Tuberville’s sustained fight for human dignity and pro-life values against a lawless and inhumane administration. We are proud to stand with Sen. Tuberville. We oppose any effort to undermine him by changing the Senate’s rules, and we urge all Senate Republicans to support him in opposing this the Biden administration’s blatant attack on life.
| The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell Chairman, Conservative Action Project Chairman, CNP Action, Inc. |
David N. Bossie President Citizens United |
| Kevin Roberts, Ph.D. President The Heritage Foundation |
Penny Y. Nance President & CEO Concerned Women for America |
| The Honorable Tony Perkins President Family Research Council |
Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq. President and CEO First Liberty Institute |
| Rebecca Weber CEO Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) |
The Honorable Jim DeMint Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013) |
| Ed Corrigan Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute |
Jenny Beth Martin Chairman Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund |
| Wesley Denton Chief Operating Officer Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) |
Bob Carlstrom President AMAC Action |
| Andy Roth President State Freedom Caucus Network |
Thomas E. McClusky Principal Greenlight Strategies, LLC |
| The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D. Executive Director Advancing American Freedom |
Mike Berry General Counsel and Director of External Affairs First Liberty Institute |
| Cleta Mitchell, Esq. Senior Legal Fellow Conservative Partnership Institute |
Tom Jones President American Accountability Foundation |
| The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs President Ronald Reagan |
Terry Schilling President American Principles Project |
| Lori Roman President ACRU Action Fund |
William L. Walton The Bill Walton Show Resolute Protector Foundation |
| David Bozell President ForAmerica |
Chad Connelly Founder and President Faith Wins |
| The Honorable David McIntosh U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Indiana |
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop White House Advisor President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985) |
| Alfred S. Regnery President Republic Book Publishers |
Scott T. Parkinson |
| L. Brent Bozell III Founder and President Media Research Center |
Myron Ebell Senior Fellow Competitive Enterprise Institute |
| The Honorable Bob McEwen U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Ohio |
Star Parker President Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) |
| Marty Dannenfelser Vice President for Government Relations & Coalitions Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) |
Rod D. Martin Founder & CEO, Martin Capital, Inc. Former Executive Committee Officer, Southern Baptist Convention |
| Christina Murphy, Esq. President The Martin Foundation |
Guillermo J. Aragon Chief Strategy Officer Martin Capital, Inc. |
| Lourdes Cosio Campaign for the American Future |
Dr. Rick Scarborough President Recover America |
| Craig Shirley Reagan Biographer Presidential Historian |
Frank Pavone National Director Priests for Life |
| Kelly M. Kullberg General Secretary American Association of Evangelicals (AAE) |
Trent England Executive Director Save Our States |
| Jack Park Conservative Activist and Donor |
The Honorable James C. Miller III Budget Director for President Reagan, 1985-1988 |
| Kristen A. Ullman President Eagle Forum |
Anne Schlafly Chairman Eagle Forum |
| The Honorable Gary L. Bauer President American Values |
Mark Fitzgibbons President of Corporate Affairs American Target Advertising |
| The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr. Managing Editor ConservativeHQ.com |
Brian Rogers President The Jesse Helms Center |
| Sean Noble President American Encore |
Eunie Smith President Eagle Forum of Alabama |
| Grace-Marie Turner Executive Director Galen Institute |
Seton Motley President Less Government |
| E. Paul Bigham CEO Bigham Agency |
Kimberly Good President KCG Investment |
| The Honorable Jason Rapert President & CEO National Association of Christian Lawmakers |
Willes K. Lee Lieutenant Colonel US Army (retired) |
| Nancy Schulze Founder, CEO RCW Speakers |
The Honorable Elias Coop-Gonzalez Delegate West Virginia House of Delegates |
| Peggy Dau Co Founder NationsNet |
Kevin Freeman Founder NSIC Institute |
| Tom DeWeese President American Policy Center |
Kristan Hawkins President Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action |
| The Honorable Peter J. Thomas Chairman The Conservative Caucus |
Bishop E.W. Jackson, Sr. Founder and President STAND Foundation, Inc. |
| Richard Manning President Americans for Limited Government |
Ron Pearson Executive Director Conservative Victory Fund |
| Elaine Donnelly President Center for Military Readiness |
Joan Holt Lindsey President Lindsey Communications |
| Dr. Paige Patterson President Sandy Creek Foundation |
The Honorable Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D. Former Congress (2011-2017) 1st District of Kansas |
| Saulius “Saul” Anuzis President 60 Plus Association |
James L. Martin Founder/Chairman 60 Plus Association |
| Richard G. Scurry Co-Founder The Bible Literacy Project |
Allen J. Hebert Chairman American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston |
| Mike Davis Founder & President Article III Project |
Robert K. Fischer Meeting Coordinator Conservatives of Faith |
| Walker Wildmon CEO AFA Action |
Jennifer Hawks President Palo Alto RWF |
| Craig DeRoche CEO Family Policy Alliance |
The Honorable Richard D. Hayes State Representative State of Texas |
| Dr. Jim Garlow CEO Well Versed |
Rosemary Schindler Garlow CEO Schindler’s Ark |
| Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D. Founder and CEO TheTruthCentral.com |
Judson Phillips Founder Tea Party Nation |
| Ralph A. Rebandt II President/Founder Michigan Lighthouse Ministries |
The Honorable Mike Hill Former Member Florida State House |
| Craig Dance President/CEO Champion Coach Inc. |
Brian Burch President CatholicVote |
| James C. Dobson Ph.D. Founder & Chairman Dr. James Dobson Family Institute |
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