It is not often that I write critically of a Republican United States senator.But that happened in February 2023, when Alabama Sen.
Tommy Tuberville placed a hold on military promotions to protest a Department of Defense policy that covered travel expenses for service members seeking reproductive healthcare across state lines.Tuberville's hold ultimately delayed the promotions of more than 400 senior military officers, many of whom were colonels or Navy captains awaiting promotion to general or flag rank, for roughly 10 months.The "Tuberville Blockade" upended the lives and careers of hundreds of Army, Air Force and Marine Corps colonels and Navy captains by seriously disrupting carefully planned career paths and assignments.
It also disrupted the carefully constructed career paths of the generals and admirals who were sidelined by the ill-considered embargo.Career military officers ought never again to be held hostage for political goals.Sen.
Tuberville eventually relented after months of mounting pressure from senators in both parties.He lifted his blanket "hold" after long meetings with his Senate colleagues, who emphasized to him that he was damaging the careers of people who had provided exemplary service over decades. MORNING GLORY: MICHIGAN’S DEMOCRATIC SENATE PRIMARY HAD TWO WINNERS — BUT ONLY ONE WAS ON THE BALLOTSen.
Tuberville is almost certainly going to be the next governor of Alabama, and hopefully he will be a better governor for having learned from his mistake.But the precedent he set in 2023 should alert everyone to why a radical leftist like Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed ought never to hold the office of United States senator.U.S.
Sen.Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., speaks to reporters as he returns to his office at the U.S.
Capitol on Feb.10, 2026 in Washington, D.C.
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)El-Sayed is a sworn enemy of the State of Israel, and I fear that it is very unlikely that he will be a supporter of the American military.El-Sayed ha...