Senators approved a bill Thursday that would provide service members with a retroactive pay raise if Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s months-long block on military promotions was lifted.
The bill was approved by unanimous consent, which means that all 100 senators agreed and no roll call vote was required.
“Tonight, at long last, we’re giving these military families, families who have already given so much, the justice they deserve — their back pay,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor. “America is keeping its promise, telling these men and women, ‘You served us well.'” You do not deserve to be punished in any way.'”
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Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, pushed the bill. Tuberville has also agreed to be a co-sponsor.
Tuberville, R-Ala., ended a 10-month protest against a Defense Department abortion policy by lifting the majority of his hold on more than 400 military promotions last week. After Tuberville’s hold was lifted, the Senate immediately confirmed 425 military nominations.
The Pentagon’s policy, which is still in effect, allows military members to be compensated for the expense of traveling to seek an abortion.
The Alabama senator attracted bipartisan and bicameral condemnation for his embargo, notably from Republicans such as Kentucky Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, and Texas House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul.
The Senate-passed bill now goes to the House, though legislators are not expected to return to the chamber until next month for votes.