- Sen. Tommy Tuberville has repeatedly said his hold on military promotions isn't affecting readiness.
- Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Marine Corps veteran, said "nobody's buying that."
A GOP senator said on Monday that "nobody's buying" by Sen. Tommy Tuberville's claim that military readiness hasn't been affected by the Alabama senator's hold on promotions.
"The idea that somehow this isn't impacting readiness and morale in one of the most dangerous times we've faced in decades — nobody's buying that," said Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaskan Republican veteran of the Marine Corps who's also currently also a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, according to Punchbowl News.
In recent months, Tuberville has maintained that although he's singlehandedly prevented hundreds of military promotions from being approved en masse in the Senate, the readiness of the nation's defenses has remained unchanged.
Despite Tuberville's claims, the Biden Administration, Senate Democrats, and even a handful of Republicans in the upper chamber have spoken out against the former football coach's stand.
On November 1, a group of GOP senators who are also veterans — Sullivan included — excoriated Tuberville on the floor of the Senate for his months-long hold.
"No matter whether you believe it or not, Sen. Tuberville, this doing great damage to our military," said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an Air Force veteran. "I don't say that lightly, I've been trying to work with you for nine months. Folks, if this keeps going, people are gonna leave."
The senators' speeches tearing into Tuberville arose as he personally objected to the promotions of over 60 individual military officials over the course of four hours, despite having previously said that he'd be more open to promoting these members if they were voted on independently.
Tuberville began his indefinite hold on military promotions as a response to the Pentagon's decision to amend its policies to now allow servicemembers to get reimbursed for expenses when traveling out-of-state for abortion services.