The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday the appointment of Jared Bernstein as President Joe Biden’s top economic advisor in a narrow vote of 50-49, with Republicans and one Democratic senator making up the opposition.
One Republican senator, however, was absent: Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who instead was visiting with former President Donald Trump in New Jersey following his indictment on 37 federal charges.
Bernstein was the chief economic policy advisor for Biden during his vice presidency, and nominated by Biden in February for the role of Council of Economic Advisers chair. Republicans, as well as Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, opposed the appointment, but were outnumbered during a vote to end the debate on the nomination 50-49.
Tuberville, whose vote would have deadlocked the Senate at 50-50, was instead at Trump’s resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, where the former president spoke out against his indictments related to mishandling sensitive government documents.
While Tuberville’s no vote would have still likely resulted in Bernstein’s appointment if Vice President Kamala Harris had to cast the tie-breaking vote, his absence was noted in the Senate.
In a press call on Wednesday, Tubberville explained that he believed it was “much more beneficial for the citizens of this country” that he demonstrated his support for Trump given that Bernstein’s confirmation was “going to pass anyway.”
“I did my due diligence, I went around and we counted votes, and my vote wouldn’t have counted, it was going to pass anyway,” Tuberville said.
“So I thought it was a lot more important for me to miss that one vote out of many and go and support Donald Trump the day that he was indicted, the first time in history for a president of our country, which is embarrassing.”
On the confirmation, Tuberville said Berstain is “not going to be very good,” and argued that he would “push the Biden policies that are about to put us under.”