Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., says he's not changing his decision to stall Senate military confirmations despite a call from President Joe Biden to Senate Republicans to "stand up" to Tuberville.
"Didn't sound like anybody wants to sit down and visit and work a problem out," Tuberville said Thursday during an appearance on CNN.
"It sounds like somebody who wants to argue about it. I'm not in this to argue. You know, I'm just in this to try to be fair and do what's right and go by the law and the Constitution. He can call me everything he wants. We need to get this worked out."
When told by CNN host Manu Raju that fellow Republicans wanted Tuberville to relent, Tuberville responded: "That's not going to happen."
Tuberville has blocked hundreds of military promotions in protest of new Pentagon policies on reproductive healthcare, which includes an allowance for service members who must travel out of state to get an abortion. His actions have held up several high-profile roles, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commandant of the Marine Corps.
Biden on Thursday said Tuberville was being "irresponsible" and jeopardizing national security by blocking the confirmations.
"I'd be willing to talk to him if I thought there was any possibility he would change his ridiculous position on this. He's jeopardizing U.S. security with what he's doing," Biden said during a news conference in Helsinki, Finland.
More than 260 nominations are being stalled by Tuberville.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., earlier this week said the hold was problematic.
"I think that the longer this drags on, the more problematic it becomes for the military to function and operate in the way that I think the American people expect them to operate. So I'm hoping something can be worked out here," he said.
Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said he believes Tuberville is talking with Rhode Island Democrat Sen. Jack Reed, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, about a path forward. And Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the committee, said he would talk to Tuberville and Senate leaders to seek a resolution, adding, "I think the general officers should be confirmed."
Wicker and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said they agree with the point Tuberville is trying to make. But Cornyn said he wants to try to find a way "that would help him make his point without blocking a lot of these nominations, which has nothing to do with the controversy." He also warned that Tuberville may be setting a precedent "that we're not going to like in the future."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.