Instead of bringing up military confirmations one by one, Senate Democrats are going nuclear to try to force their will as a narrow majority to pass them en masse, putting American democracy at risk, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told Newsmax.
"The only power you have in the minority in the Senate, whether you're Democrat or Republican, the only power you have to get anything on the floor is to put a hold on somebody," Tuberville said on "National Report" Wednesday. "And so that's what I did when they had this executive overreach from the White House and the Pentagon of charging taxpayers across this country with funding something to do with abortion.
"They're going around the Constitution, and if we continue to do this, we're not going to have a country."
The Democrat-controlled rules committee passed a resolution using only their party votes to force mass confirmation votes over Tuberville's authorized opposition.
The resolution will now head to the Senate floor for a vote, where Democrats will need at least nine Republican votes for passage. While Republicans on the rules panel opposed the measure, arguing the move could erode the powers of the minority in the Senate, some have signaled they might change their minds if Tuberville does not drop the holds before then.
According to an AP report, nearly 400 military nominations are in limbo, and the number is growing, due to Tuberville’s blanket hold on confirmations and promotions for senior military officers. Senior military officials say that Tuberville’s blockade threatens readiness and national security.
"I've got the constituents calling me wondering how our Republican colleagues are going to vote?" Tuberville told co-hosts Shaun Kraisman and Emma Rechenberg. "I'm afraid we're going to have some Republicans that will vote for this to let this resolution go through — which then they can bypass me and promote everybody they want to, and then we will have no power in the Senate.
"I'll be shocked if it happens, but we're gonna see something very unusual here probably a couple of weeks on the Senate floor."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who criticized Tuberville’s holds before the committee vote, said he would oppose the Democratic resolution "at this particular moment." But he did not say whether he might vote for it on the floor.
"Unfortunately, our colleague has chosen instead to exert his leverage on career military officers with no influence over this administration's policy priorities," McConnell said.
Tuberville shot back that he works for Alabama, not the Senate leader.
"I was elected by the people of Alabama to come up here and represent them," he said. "That's exactly what I'm going to do — what a thought, right? I'm not in the established business. I'm an American citizen that believes in this country, in the Constitution. I'm not running to get reelected.
"Now, if I get reelected fine, but I don't care about whether I'll lose a vote or gain a vote. Too many people do that up here.
"And if we don't quit this, if we don't start voting for the American people, they're going to run us out of here — and they should.
"I like Mitch McConnell. I don't work for him. I work for the people of Alabama. And that's exactly what I'm going to vote for."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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