Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., brushed off any connection between his unanimous consent holds on military promotions and the medical emergency suffered by Marine commandant Gen. Eric Smith, saying 20-hour workdays were common for him when he was a college football head coach.
Smith, who reportedly suffered a heart attack Sunday, had been doing multiple jobs since the confirmation of the Marines' No. 2 in command had been held up — until Thursday — by Tuberville's holds. Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed, D-R.I., on Tuesday said doing the job of two people might have contributed to Smith's health scare.
Tuberville, who is serving as a one-man blockade over the Pentagon's abortion policy, wasn't buying it Thursday.
"[Smith's] got 2,000 people who work for him, OK?" Tuberville told CNN. "And somebody said he's working 18 hours a day. Jack Reed blamed me for his heart attack. Come on, give me a break. This guy's gonna work 18, 20 hours a day no matter what. That's what we do.
"You know, I did that for years because you gotta get the job done. You try to do everything yourself. So we're not gonna go down that road," Tuberville said.
Tuberville never served in the military but was a head coach in the college football ranks for 21 years.
Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl took over the top post for Smith temporarily. However, the Senate did rush to confirm Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney on Thursday to serve as assistant commandant for the U.S. Marine Corps. So now Mahoney will do both jobs while Smith is on the mend. Heckl's usual job is deputy commandant for combat development and integration. Smith was doing both jobs from July until September, when he was finally confirmed.
Tuberville has, predictably, been taking flak since Day 1 of his holds from Democrats, the Pentagon, as well as active and retired military. But now tensions from members of his own party are ratcheting up.
Tuberville has for months maintained that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., should bring up the nominations one at a time, a process that would take forever. However, the Senate did that Wednesday night, and Tuberville still stood up all 61 times and objected to each nominee.
"I anticipated a man of his word would honor his word," said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. "We haven't heard an explanation. But I'll tell you, this was not time wasted tonight. I will do this all over again. We have done the best we can to honor the request of a fellow senator that these nominations be brought to the floor and voted on individually.
"I really respect men of their word. I do not respect men who do not honor their word."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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