An increasingly bitter feud between Sen. Tommy Tuberville\u2002(R-Ala.) and the Biden administration deepened this week after the White House nixed former President Trump\u2019s decision to move Space Command from Colorado to Alabama.
The decision enraged the Alabama delegation, including Tuberville, who had already earned the scorn of the White House and Pentagon with an abortion rights-related hold on more than 300 military appointees.
The fight over Space Command now seems likely to solidify Tuberville\u2019s stance on the holds, complicating an already difficult path for Biden nominees. Tuberville quickly accused Biden of playing politics with the decision.
\u201cAs soon as Joe Biden\u2002took office, he paused movement on that decision and inserted politics into what had been a fair and objective competition \u2014 not because the facts had changed, but because the political party of the sitting President had changed,\u201d Tuberville said in a Monday statement.
The White House says the most significant factor the president considered was how a move to Alabama would impact \u201coperational readiness to confront space-enabled threats.\u201d
\u201cLet me put this as plainly as I can. The deciding factor for President Biden in deciding to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs was operational readiness. Pure and simple,\u201d national security adviser John Kirby\u2002said in response to questioning over if Biden nixed Alabama because it\u2019s a red state.
\u201cHad nothing to do with Sen. Tuberville\u2019s holds. Had nothing to do with partisan politics,\u201d he said, adding \u201cno\u201d when asked whether Tuberville\u2019s moves influenced the decision.
Republicans aren\u2019t convinced. They believe Tuberville\u2019s holds \u2014 which are set to hit the five-month mark next week \u2014 have given the administration an opening to keep Space Command headquarters in Colorado and out of a red state with which the administration has not been friendly.
\u201cThere are a good amount of people in the business community and center-right who essentially feel whether or not the Space Command decision is related to Coach\u2019s holds, it certainly has given the Biden administration political cover,\u201d one Alabama Republican source told The Hill, adding that it amounts to \u201can understandable excuse\u201d for why Biden made the call.
\u201cWith the entire circus [the holds have] created, it\u2019s totally impossible for discussion to be about the merits. It\u2019s unfortunate,\u201d the source added.
The Biden administration has taken issue with Alabama since it passed a near-total ban on abortion. But it has worked to keep its beef with Tuberville specifically at the forefront.
Officials have mentioned Tuberville nearly every day for weeks, seeking to highlight the high-level positions left vacant. Late last week, Biden accused the former Auburn University football coach of causing \u201ca growing cascade of damage and disruption.\u201d
\u201cSomething dangerous is happening,\u201d the president said. \u201cThe Republican party used to always support the military. But today, they\u2019re undermining the military.\u201d
The back-and-forth between Biden and Tuberville continued into Tuesday.
In response to a video of Biden calling him out, Tuberville posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, \u201cAll of these jobs are being done. My holds are NOT affecting national security.\u201d
\u201cThis you?\u201d the White House\u2002responded\u2002on X on Tuesday, sharing a series of headlines about the issues the holds have caused. One, from The Hill, read \u201cTuberville\u2019s hold leaves Marines leaderless for first time in 164 years.\u201d
The White House and Pentagon have also refused to back off the Defense Department\u2019s new abortion policy, which provides paid leave and travel reimbursement for abortions. Tuberville argues it violates the Hyde Amendment that prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion.
Kirby recently passionately defended the policy, arguing it\u2019s critical to military readiness.
\u201cWhat happens if you get assigned to a state like Alabama, which has a pretty restrictive abortion law in place? And you\u2019re concerned about your reproductive care?\u201d he said last month. \u201cWhat do you do? Do you say no and you get out? Well, some people may decide to do that, and what does that mean? That means we lose talent, important talent.\u201d
The White House has publicly noted Tuberville\u2019s hold is causing a Huntsville, Ala., Army base, Redstone Arsenal, to have to wait for confirmation of a leader to head the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. The would-be commander was nominated in December.
Biden has also mocked Tuberville for touting $1.4 billion in federal funding Alabama is set to receive for expanded broadband internet access despite voting against it in 2021.
Tuberville wasn\u2019t the only Alabama Republican who slammed the White House\u2019s decision this week. The timing raised eyebrows in GOP circles as it came only days after Congress broke for its monthlong August recess and days after the Senate passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
\u201cThere\u2019s a reason why the president waited until the first business day that Congress was out. He knew there were going to be real consequences if he took this action,\u201d the Alabama Republican source said. \u201cThis is not something that\u2019s going to end today. The Alabama delegation is very much united behind and not going to drop this.\u201d
The Alabama Republican source noted that Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), and Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), a House Appropriations subcommittee chairman, are highly influential in the looming NDAA and government funding battles and they will play key roles in the coming months.
Rogers said in a Tuesday statement that he will continue to probe whether the administration misled HASC \u201con their deliberate taxpayer-funded manipulation of the selection process.\u201d
\u201cI will continue to hold the Biden administration accountable for their egregious political meddling in our national security,\u201d he said. \u201cThis fight is far from over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n