Dems must 'turn up the heat' on Tuberville, Warren says

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging her Democratic colleagues to ramp up the pressure on Sen. Tommy Tuberville as he continues to block hundreds of military promotions because of the Pentagon’s abortion policies.

While Democrats have individually spoken out against the Alabama Republican, “it’s time for us to turn up the heat on that and for all of the Democrats to be involved,” Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday morning on MSNBC, adding that “there is no dissension” on the topic among Democrats.

Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been among the most prominent voices on the left opposing Tuberville’s nine-month hold on senior military nominations. Numerous other Democrats, including Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), have also spoken out over the months on the Senate floor and on social media. Some top Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have expressed their opposition to the holds, while others have stood behind Tuberville.

“We have done some of this in smaller groups, but … we have got to stand up and continue to talk about this,” Warren said. “He is playing politics with our military and our safety in a way that we cannot, cannot, cannot reward.”

The Massachusetts senator’s sharp critique follows a public push by the Pentagon to pressure Tuberville, deploying civilian leaders of the military branches to slam the senator for the blockade, first in a Washington Post op-ed on Monday and then during a CNN interview on Tuesday. On Wednesday, DOD took the rare step of putting out a news story highlighting the hold’s impact on its official media webpage.

But the attacks didn’t phase Tuberville, who told reporters Wednesday that the attacks were “disappointing” and dug into his position. Right now, there’s no sign that the Alabama senator is letting up.

“He deserves every ugly term that gets thrown at him,” Warren said.