Tuberville Scoffs at Military Leaders Working 20 Hours a Day: ‘I Did That for Years’ – As a Football Coach

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) dismissed the idea that top military brass are working too much while he continues blocking hundreds of Department of Defense nominees.

The freshman senator has held up the nominees to protest the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing the travel expenses of service members who travel out of state to obtain abortions. Many states have banned the procedure, which can make it difficult and costly for service members stationed in those states to get one.

More than 350 nominees are stalled. Tuberville’s obstruction came under more scrutiny this week when one nominee – who has held up for two months – was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. As Politico reported:

Gen. Eric Smith had been filling both the No. 1 and No. 2 Marine Corps posts from July until he was finally confirmed as commandant in September. He, along with more than 300 other senior officers, was swept up in the promotions blockade put in place by GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy.

Once Smith was hospitalized on Sunday following a “medical emergency,” a three-star general had to take over his role. The job of assistant commandant is still vacant.

On Thursday, CNN’s Manu Raju caught up with Tuberville, a former college football coach, to ask him about his hold on the nominees.

RAJU: Some of these people have multiple– are doing multiple jobs, some of these military personnel. Even the Marine Corps commandant was doing two jobs. Aren’t you making it harder for them to do their job?

TUBERVILLE: He’s got 2,000 people who work for him, ok? 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, who has repeatedly declared, “There’s nobody more military than me,” did not serve in the military. Before being elected to the Senate in 2020, he was as a football coach for nearly 40 uninterrupted years beginning in his early 20s.

The senator’s tactics have angered his colleagues, including Republicans. On Wednesday night, several GOP senators attempted to confirm various nominees, only to have Tuberville object to each one.

“My colleague from Alabama is 100% wrong,” asserted Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) on the Senate floor.