Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville refused to back down on Wednesday from his blockade of hundreds of U.S. military promotions — including the top ranking officers in the Army, Navy and United States Marine Corps — even after the top civilian officials in three branches of the armed forces made the unusual move to publicly pressure him in the pages of the Washington Post and on CNN.

The Republican senator has placed a hold on all military promotions since February over the Pentagon’s policy of offering time off and paying for the travel of service members and their families to receive reproductive health care if they are stationed in states that have restricted abortions and other procedures.

“We are so woke in the military. We're losing recruits right and left. Secretary del Toro of the Navy, he needs to get to building ships, he needs to get to recruiting, and he needs to get wokeness out of our Navy,” Tuberville told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Wednesday night. “We've got people doing poems on aircraft carriers over the loudspeaker. It is absolutely insane the direction that we're headed in our military and we're headed downhill not up.”

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth published an op-ed in the Post on Monday and appeared on CNN on Tuesday to make the case Tuberville’s stunting of the military’s leadership was “dangerous,” a national security risk and contributing to an erosion of talent within the military, something Tuberville argues is already lacking because of “woke” ideology.

“Rather than continue making sacrifices to serve our nation, some might leave uniformed service for other opportunities, robbing the Defense Department of talent cultivated over decades that we now need most to maintain our superiority over our rivals and adversaries,” the secretaries argued. “We believe that the vast majority of senators and of Americans across the political spectrum recognize the stakes of this moment and the dangers of politicizing our military leaders. It is time to lift this dangerous hold and confirm our senior military leaders.”

In all, Tuberville has blocked the military “from placing almost 300 of our most experienced and battle-tested leaders into critical posts around the world,” they added.

Tuberville insisted the civilian leaders at the Pentagon were merely echoing White House talking points.

“Nobody's told them 'no' in three years, okay. They're not used to saying ‘well, you mean we can't get our way here?’ They're not getting their way,” Tuberville said on Fox News. “And I told [Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin this almost a year ago: If you do this, I'm gonna block your generals and admirals from promotion. They didn't believe me. They put all this into effect.”

Poetry in the Navy has long been a sticking point for Tuberville. In April, during a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing, Tuberville questioned a top Navy admiral about a sailor who read a poem to the crew of the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, one of the nation’s 11 aircraft carriers. The admiral defended the sailor against Tuberville’s focus on their sexuality and gender, saying he was “particularly proud” of the lieutenant for their service.

“Sen. Tuberville never served, so he may not understand there is downtime in the military. Some personnel may watch movies, some play cards, some write poems. That’s normal,” wrote Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., in response to Tuberville’s interview. Lieu served in the Air Force and attained the rank of colonel. “I also note the famous "In Flanders Fields" poem" was written by a Canadian military officer.”

The senator, a former college football coach, has defended himself from criticisms of his lack of military service by pointing to that of his father.

“There’s no bigger fan of the military than me,” he said Wednesday.

Tuberville also decried Air Force General C.Q. Brown, the first African American to lead any branch of the military and President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the highest ranking military officer in the country. Brown has called for more diversity in the Air Force and throughout the armed forces.

“I don't care if a C.Q. Brown says ‘I want more Black pilots’. Well, I'm fine with that. If they're the best. There's no second place in war,” Tuberville said. “We have to have the best and right now we are so woke in the military. We're losing recruits right and left.”

The White House, Austin and top military officials have continuously slammed Tuberville for disrupting the military leadership. On CNN on Tuesday, Del Toro said the senator was “playing Russian roulette with the very lives of our servicemembers” and “aiding and abetting communist and other autocratic regimes around the world.”

After Tuberville’s appearance on Fox News, Democratic lawmakers were quick to attack him for his monthslong standoff. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on MSNBC on Thursday morning that Republican leadership in the Senate should crack down on their colleague and force him to end his blockade.

“Of course they have the power to shut him down,” Warren said. “They can go to him and say ‘we’re done with you. You’ve made your point.’”

“This is tearing people’s lives apart,” she added.

Tuberville claimed Republican Senate leadership has his back “more and more,” saying Wednesday “it’s kind of building.” In May, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in May he opposed the strategy. A spokesperson for McConnell did not immediately return a request for comment.