Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) skipped a key vote in the Senate on Tuesday to attend former President Donald Trump‘s speech in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Tuberville skipped the vote to end the debate on President Joe Biden’s pick for chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Jared Bernstein.
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The move to end debate on Bernstein’s nomination was passed in a 50-49 vote that included Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) standing with the 48 Republicans present. Bernstein was later confirmed with the same 50-49 tally, with Manchin’s lone Democratic vote.
Republicans were anticipating having enough votes on Tuesday to force Vice President Kamala Harris to act as the tiebreaker. Republicans were reportedly “furious” with Tuberville for missing the vote, according to Punchbowl News.
“Would it have been nice to force another tiebreaking vote to highlight the partisanship of these noms? Sure. But at the end of the day, it’s the same outcome,” a Senate GOP aide told the Washington Examiner. “That said, attendance is up to each member, so they’d have to react to why he decided to miss the vote.”
Tuberville’s office did not respond to attempts for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Bernstein, who has served on the economic council since the beginning of Biden’s administration, will fill the post vacated by Cecilia Rouse in March. Tuberville also missed the confirmation vote.
Republican leaders have outwardly opposed Biden’s pick for the nomination, claiming Bernstein is not an objective economist.
“The CEA was designed to produce objective, empirical economic analysis,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “With the rarest of exceptions, it’s been led by a seasoned economist with a Ph.D. in the field. That streak would end with Mr. Bernstein.”
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Tuberville tweeted on Tuesday that he will be “standing right next to President Trump tonight in total support” following his arraignment in Miami earlier in the day. Trump is scheduled to deliver a speech about the latest slew of charges against him to which he pleaded not guilty.
The charges stem from the FBI raid at his Mar-a-Lago resort last year. Charges include alleged violations of the Espionage Act, according to special counsel Jack Smith‘s 49-page indictment after the case was considered by a Miami grand jury, making him the first former U.S. president to be charged with federal crimes.
