U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced Tuesday that he is ending his blockade of military promotions at the three-star level and below.

Last February, Tuberville (R-Auburn) placed holds on unanimous consent of military promotions over the Department of Defense’s policy of paying for travel expenses for members of the military seeking an abortion.

“I’m not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer,” Tuberville told reporters. “We just released them. I think about 440 of them.

“Everybody but the 10 or 11 four stars.”

It was expected that Tuberville might back down on some of his holds before Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brought a rule change to the floor.

“We just came to a conclusion,” Tuberville said. “All of us are against a rule change in the Senate, okay? We’re all against it. Now it’s been a long hard fight. We fought hard. We did the right thing for the unborn and our military. Fighting back against executive overreach and an abortion policy that was not legal.”

Tuberville also blasted Schumer for changing the rules on the upcoming defense bill.

“Senator Schumer changed the rules on the NDAA,” he added. “And when you change the rules, it’s hard to beat somebody. I’d love to have five downs in football instead of four, but you can’t do it. It’s got to be fair for everybody.”

The senator also told reporters why he thinks it was important to push the holds in the first place.

“We stuck with the rule of law, executive overreach, fighting back against that, and about the unborn,” he argued. “I ran on pro-life. In Alabama, I’m standing up with the people in Alabama. And so it’s unfortunate that the only opportunity you have in the minority in the Senate is to put a hold on something.”

Tuberville will continue his hold on the promotions for four-star and five-star generals.

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee