Appearing on the Dixon and Vining Show on Birmingham’s Talk 99.5 FM this morning with Richard Dixon and guest host Apryl Marie Fogel, Tommy Tuberville talked about a wide range of topics, focusing on what he described as the upcoming change in rules that resulted in his drop on military holds.
Tuberville told Dixon and Fogel that while he cannot claim a victory on his eleven-month-long effort to stop the Department of Defense from expanding access to abortions on U.S. military bases, he intends to continue the fight in the future.
He explained the timing of his actions this week, which resulted in 425 nominations being confirmed, saying, “They changed the rules on me in the last couple of months.” He claimed to have had the votes with bipartisan support to leave it in the military budget that he anticipates passing next week to change the policy back to where it was before the DOD’s post-Supreme Court updates.
Expressing his frustration, he said, “This is not a government. This is a cartel. This is run by the Democrats.” Before going on to say, “I don’t understand some of my Republican colleagues,” describing the process where they agreed with Chuck Schumer to change the 200-year-old rule to lift his hold before the budget came to a vote.
As reported by Politico in early November, several Republican members of the Senate took to the floor to force Tuberville’s hand on confirming 60 nominees. That effort was led by Senator Dan Sullivan, who was joined by Joni Ernst of Iowa, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana, and Mitt Romney of Utah.
Tuberville stressed, “We fought hard. I’m not done. We’re going to continue to fight; looks like we’re gonna have to get President [Donald] Trump back in office, then we’ll get it changed back.” He is continuing his hold of 4-star generals.
The interview continued with Fogel asking about a Punchbowl News story that has gained national attention saying that Alabama’s junior senator Katie Britt acted as an intermediary in the final negotiations that led to his release of the holds. Tuberville demurred, saying they had had a “couple of conversations.” He then pivoted quickly to credit his colleagues Mike Lee, Roger Marshall, and Rick Scott for supporting his efforts over the last eleven months. He said if he got a call from anyone else, it was, “Hey, we need to get this done. You know it could hurt the election next year; could hurt our possibilities of getting a senator or two.” Tuberville emphasized that elections weren’t his priority, saying, “That wasn’t my concern.”
Tuberville wrapped up his response to the report that Britt had a pivotal role in negotiations to end his hold. He said, “I don’t know where that other information came from.”
