Tuberville votes "No" on confirmation of Julie Su for Labor Secretary

On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) voted against the confirmation of Julie Su as the U.S. Secretary of Labor during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) closed-door committee vote. Sen. Tuberville cited Su's efforts to keep illegal aliens from being deported in her previous employment as a high ranking bureaucrat for the State of California.

Su's nomination was confirmed on an 11 to 10 vote. The eleven Democrats on the Committee all voted for Su's confirmation, while the other nine Republicans on the Committee voted with Tuberville. This was the second time Senator Tuberville has opposed the nomination.

"We can't have a labor secretary who puts the wants of illegal immigrants ahead of the needs of the American people," Tuberville said in a statement.

Last year, Senator Tuberville questioned Julie Su regarding reports that she willfully ordered her staff in the Division of Labor Standards Enforcements (DLSE) to refuse entry to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Su acknowledged the existence of a memo directing members of the agency to bar ICE agents from the DLSE offices. She repeatedly refused to provide it to the Committee.

Tuberville and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) requested and uncovered the document from California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) confirming that Su provided implicit instructions to her subordinates on how to hide illegal aliens from immigration law enforcement. This memo ordering the staff to obstruct ICE agents from doing their duty was sent directly from Su.

After Tuberville and Cassidy's investigation uncovered the memo, Sen. Tuberville said, "We now have the proof that Julie Su actively thwarted federal law enforcement from doing its job. That might be popular in left-wing California, but she is too radical for America."

Su is President Joseph R Biden's (D) nominee to be labor secretary.

In her testimony, Julie Su admitted the existence of the 2017 memo, but claimed that she could not access it. When Senator Tuberville submitted a Question for the Record (QFR) asking for a copy of the memo following the hearing. Still Su failed to provide the document. Sens. Tuberville and Cassidy then had to request the memo directly from California LWDA, leading to its revelation.

The Committee voted on Tuesday without Su or the press present.

Su's nomination is now cleared for a floor vote of the full Senate. Sen. Tuberville said that he will continue to oppose Su's nomination.

Sen. Tuberville has made opposing the mass resettling of undocumented migrants and restoring order on the U.S. southern border key priorities of his tenure in the U.S. Senate. To that end, Tuberville is also pressing for the Senate to move forward on the Senate trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Tuberville has also declared that there should be no emergency appropriation for military aid for Ukraine unless that is attached to funding for the border crisis on the southern border.

Tommy Tuberville was elected in 2020 after a four-decade long career in teaching, coaching, and sports broadcasting.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com