Sen. Tommy Tuberville told Newsmax that President Joe Biden's latest nominee lost over $30 billion in COVID-related fraud while overseeing a California unemployment agency.
Joining "The Chris Salcedo Show" on Tuesday, the Alabama Republican criticized Julie A. Su for serving under California Gov. Gavin Newsom and her tenure as deputy secretary of labor.
"Somehow she lost $30 billion ... to fraud in California alone, and it just evaporated in thin air," Tuberville said of Su, head of California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency from 2019 until 2021.
"Of course, she blamed it on fraud, cartels, and people not knowing how to go by the rules," he added.
In January 2021, California's Employment Development Department admitted that it lost as much as $31 billion in California unemployment funds during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four district attorneys and a federal prosecutor had announced a year before that crime rings inside California's jails and prisons stole upwards of $1 billion in pandemic unemployment aid, Politico reported.
Later in the Newsmax segment, Tuberville noted that Su approved a memo encouraging agents not to cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — a document he is now seeking.
"We're trying to get Democrats to vote with us," the senator explained. "I think we're in pretty good shape on the Republican side — of nobody voting the other way — but hopefully, we can get two or three Democrats because she's not ready to do this job."
Su took over as acting labor secretary on March 11 after Marty Walsh resigned to become executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association.
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.