WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Liberal Republican senators repeatedly took to the Senate floor last night to attack their colleague, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, for placing a hold on military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel fund.

The travel fund contradicts federal law and was created by the Biden administration simply writing a memo to fund abortion travel for military members and their spouses. Tuberville’s hold has been in place now for about nine months. The travel fund was part of the Biden’s administration response to the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Liberal Senator Mitt Romney of Utah and liberal Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joined with Indiana’s Todd Young, who betrayed Indiana voters soon after the 2022 election by voting for a federal “right” to same-sex “marriage,” in their attacks.

READ: Amendment to defund Biden’s vaccine mandates fails after four Republicans miss vote

Romney, a liberal Republican who is not seeking re-election in 2024, called Tuberville’s hold an “abuse” of “powers.”

“It’s simply in my opinion an abuse of the powers we have as senators to say if there’s something we vehemently disagree with that we’re going to use that power to hold up the promotion of over 350 men and women in our military,” Sen. Romney said.

The U.S. Constitution provides that the Senate has the right to “advice and consent” on presidential nominations.

Graham told the senator from Alabama that he should not use his power as a senator to place a hold on nominees but instead should sue, showing a lack of understanding of the separation of powers.

“If you think they’ve done something illegal go to court, that’s how you handle these thing. The Pentagon has issued a legal opinion I disagree with saying this doesn’t violate the Hyde Amendment,” Sen. Graham said.

The nominations are usually approved by a voice vote. The Senate could approve them by holding a roll call vote on each nominee.

“Why are we putting holds on war heroes?” Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, who also voted in favor of same-sex “marriage” last year, said on the Senate floor.

READ: Senate passes Democrats’ same-sex ‘marriage’ bill with 12 Republican votes

Many of the nominees are not “war heroes” but are supporters of woke “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” as documented by The Federalist.

Sullivan made his comments even as he acknowledged that the travel fund is illegal. “I strongly disagree with what [Defense] Secretary Austin [and] President Biden have done with their politicization of the military on a whole host of fronts, including the abortion policy, which I think is illegal.”

His position aligns with that of former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who said she disagrees with the policy but also does not want Senator Tuberville to use his power to effect change.

She told radio host Hugh Hewitt in August:

And you know, I appreciate what Tuberville’s trying to do. I do. Like it’s totally wrong that the Department of Defense is doing this

But have we gotten so low that this is how we have to go about stopping it? I mean, at what point can we not go and have, you know, Congressional members go to the Department of Defense and say look, you have to go through Congress if you’re going to do this. You can’t suddenly decide you’re going to do this.

Don’t hold, you know, don’t make us have to do this. I just think it shouldn’t get to this point.

Early on in the debate, Tuberville reiterated that the blockade could be removed if the Pentagon rescinded the policy.

“I will keep my hold in place until the Pentagon follows the law or the Democrats change the law. This is about our Constitution, this is about the rule of law, that’s what we’re about in here. It’s about the integrity of our military, it’s about keeping politics politics out of the military,” Tuberville said.

“I did not put it in the military. Joe Biden and Secretary Austin put politics in the military, and it’s about the right to life. These are some of the most important things in the world to me,” the Alabama Republican said.

While the senators criticized Tuberville, it’s unclear what exactly their hours of speeches accomplished in terms of getting officers confirmed, as the senator placed 61 holds on nominees brought up for a vote.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is also reportedly working on a deal to change the Senate rules to confirm the officers.

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