Overview

• Sen. Tommy Tuberville objected to Sen. Ruben Gallego’s unanimous-consent request, halting immediate Senate action on a resolution to deny Ashli Babbitt military funeral honors.
• The Air Force last month offered Babbitt military funeral honors in a letter from Under Secretary Matthew L. Lohmeier, reversing an initial 2021 denial that said conferring honors would bring discredit on the service.
• Gallego’s measure cited 10 U.S.C. §985 and asserted Babbitt’s actions during the Capitol breach constitute disqualifying conduct for such rites.
• Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer while attempting to enter the Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021; the Justice Department brought no charges and the officer faced no internal discipline.
• The federal government agreed in May to nearly $5 million to settle a wrongful-death claim with Babbitt’s family, and with Republicans controlling the Senate, further efforts to rescind the honors appear unlikely to advance soon.