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"It's just bizarre. I don't remember it happening before, and
I've been around," Biden said of the actions of Tuberville at a
fundraiser for wealthy donors in California's Silicon Valley.
Tuberville, a former football coach from Alabama, began blocking
confirmations to senior Pentagon posts in March to protest a
Defense Department policy enacted last year that provides paid
leave and reimburses costs for service members who travel to get
an abortion.
The Alabama senator has called the policy a violation of the
Hyde Amendment, which prohibits using federal taxpayer funds for
abortion services.
Earlier this month, the White House slammed the lawmaker. Press
secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called his actions "shameful" and
accused him of endangering national security.
Jean-Pierre said the senator's blockade on the nominees was
hurting military families and risking "our military readiness by
depriving our armed forces of leadership."
The Alabama senator is blocking what is usually a speedy process
to confirm Pentagon nominees. If he persists, the U.S. Senate
would have to consider each nominee in a longer process that
takes up valuable floor time.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in May said the holdup as
endangering national security and called the block
"irresponsible."
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Los Gatos, California, and
Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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