Tommy Tuberville: “Reserving the right to object, this is the ninth time that my colleagues on the left have come to the floor to try to…”

“Reserving the right to object, this is the ninth time that my colleagues on the left have come to the floor to try to break my hold on Department of Defense nominees. This is the ninth time I am coming forward to keep my word. Since the last time we did this, nothing has changed, and so my hold will remain in place. I want to be clear about this because my Democratic colleagues have been spreading a little bit of disinformation. I am not blocking anyone from getting confirmed. I am not blocking a single vote. I am only blocking unanimous consent. If Democrats want to vote on these nominees one at a time, I am all for it and will probably vote for them. I understand that Senator Cardin is a strong supporter of this nominee. I am a strong supporter of the Naval Academy. I have several relatives who have gone to the Naval Academy. It is possible that when these come up, I will vote on all of them. But, so far--let me just respond to some of the false claims that have been made against me in the press and even on this floor in the last week or so. Yesterday, the White House Press Secretary was asked why they haven't reached out to me at all from the White House. She said: I do not know when the last time is that [the White House] has talked to the Senator. I will tell you when the last time was--never. The White House has not reached out to me once in 4 months. No one has contacted me. There has not been one conversation about a path forward.…”