Sen Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Tuesday said he no longer will block military promotions three-stars and below.
Tuberville since February has refused to allow the Senate confirmations of hundreds of U.S. military service members to protest the Defense Department's abortion policy. He said he would continue to block four-star general nominees, multiple media outlets reported.
Tuberville told Politico that he had "no control over anybody else putting a hold on somebody. But for myself, they are released as we speak."
"We fought hard," Tuberville said, the Washington Examiner reported. "We did the right thing for the unborn and for our military, fighting back against executive overreach and an abortion policy."
The senator had been pressured for months to end his hold, and even frustrated some Republican colleagues.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., threatened to force a vote on a resolution that would allow military nominations to be confirmed en masse, but it wasn’t clear whether he had the votes to pass it, NBC News reported.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday morning that he was "hopeful" Tuberville would end his hold on military promotions.
"I was involved in a lot of conversations over the weekend on this subject, and I think that I’m hopeful," Thune told reporters, NBC News reported. "I’m hopeful that today, we’re going to--keep your fingers crossed, we’ll see, I hope we have a breakthrough but time will tell."
The Examiner reported that Tuberville's office had announced a hastily called press conference for Tuesday afternoon. However, the presser was canceled because Tuberville wanted to tell his GOP colleagues in person over lunch before a public announcement.
Earlier in the day, Tea Party Patriots Action Chair Jenny Beth Martin released a statement in support of Tuberville.
"Sen. Tuberville deserves our full support, full stop," Martin wrote. "If his Senate Republican colleagues go behind his back and make a deal with Democrats, they will be making a fateful error."
This report contains material from Reuters.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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