Upon arriving on Capitol Hill nearly four years ago, the first votes Sen. Tommy Tuberville cast were against certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Two months later, the Alabama Republican said the three branches of the federal government were the House, the Senate and the White House — he apparently forgot about the judiciary — and talked up government-imposed religious lessons, in defiance of the First Amendment and U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
A constitutional scholar, he is not.
Now that the football coach–turned–politician has several years of experience on Capitol Hill under his belt, is there any chance he’s better familiarized himself with the basics of constitutional law? Evidently not. The New Republic noted:
Tuberville told reporters from CNN Wednesday that the Senate didn’t need to complete the vetting processes for Cabinet confirmations because Trump already did such a great job of that … Tuberville went so far as to suggest that Democrats who were merely doing their research were actually attacking nominees.
There’s been plenty of bizarre rhetoric from GOP lawmakers over the last month about Donald Trump, his personnel announcements and Congress’ responsibilities. Indeed, Tuberville himself has made head-spinning comments in recent weeks, suggesting that the president-elect and Vice President-elect JD Vance will soon be “running the Senate” — that’s not how separation of powers works in the United States — and claiming that it’s not up to senators to “determine” whether Trump’s Cabinet nominees have merit.
But he keeps making matters worse.
In this latest instance, the Alabaman began by telling CNN’s Manu Raju he disapproved of Republican senators who presume to be “a better vetter and picker of people than Donald Trump.” This was an odd thing to say, given that Trump has already effectively admitted that he and his team are not, at least in some instances, bothering to vet personnel for key positions at all.
After Raju reminded Tuberville of the Constitution’s advise-and-consent powers — “It’s your job,” the reporter said plainly — the far-right senator replied, “Advice and consent, but that’s more the Democrats.”
As part of the same exchange, the senator went on to say that it’s members of the incoming Democratic minority who should “do all the background work.” Pointing to one of Trump’s most controversial Cabinet choices, Tuberville concluded, “I just can’t believe we even have people on our side that are saying, ‘Well, I’ve got to look at this, got to look at that.’” When I say that Alabama’s senior senator is confused about the basics of his own constitutional responsibilities, I’m being quite literal. There are apparently basic aspects of Tuberville’s job that he simply has no interest in doing. Article II, Section II of the Constitution empowers presidents to name officials “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” It does not say that presidents can name officials, at which point senators should shrug their shoulders, ignore nominees’ qualifications and go along with the White House’s wishes without regard for merit or consequences.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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