'Not the time to be playing games': Republican marine vet says Tuberville has 'picked too many fights'

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Georgia) — a 20-year veteran of the US Marine Corps and the US Navy — gave a candid assessment of Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Alabama) ongoing blockade of senior military confirmations.

While speaking to CNN, McCormick said that Tuberville's months-long hold on hundreds of military promotions was too risky of a gambit to take with the world "on the brink of war." McCormick cited Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, Ukraine's ongoing defense of its borders against Russian incursion, and brewing conflict in Azerbaijan as reasons to quickly fill vacant military leadership positions.

"The confirmation process is very important to keeping the military ready," McCormick said. "I think [Tuberville]'s picked too many fights."

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"This is not the time to be playing games," he added.

McCormick is part of a growing chorus of Republicans pushing back on Tuberville's blockade, which the Alabama senator has been upholding as a means of protesting a Pentagon policy that allows military service members seeking abortion care post-Roe to have their travel costs reimbursed if they need to travel out of state for the procedure. On Wednesday night, four Senate Republicans — Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Todd Young (R-Indiana) — brought the confirmations to the floor between 12:15 AM and 3:45 AM, only for both Tuberville and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to prolong the blockade.

According to McCormick, Tuberville's blockade may have been a contributor to Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith — a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — suffering a heart attack in early November. Because Smith's would-be deputy has had his confirmation blocked by Tuberville, Gen. Smith has effectively been performing the work of two demanding jobs for months.

"I actually met with the commandant right before he had his heart attack, and we were talking about that," McCormick said. "If you're wearing two hats — for the commandant and the assistant commandant — you're not doing your job appropriately."

READ MORE: 'Like a car wreck on the interstate': GOP senators wage late-night battle with Tuberville over military

Watch McCormick's interview via the video below, or by clicking this link.