U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama questioned nominees for two major military commands during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington. The nominees were Lieutenant General Francis L. Donovan, who is up for the position of General and Commander of United States Southern Command, and Lieutenant General Joshua M. Rudd, nominated to lead U.S. Cyber Command, serve as Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), and Chief of the Central Security Service.
Senator Tuberville opened his remarks by thanking both nominees for their service and acknowledged their families’ support. Addressing Donovan, he noted his familiarity with the Southern Command headquarters in Miami and raised concerns about whether its current facilities are adequate for future needs.
“Thank you for that. I have been thinking a lot about that. And I have to credit the SOUTHCOM team that have done great work, as you mentioned, Senator, on the security cooperation. They’re known for that, allies and partners, [for] building that partnership capacity and capability. The NSS directs us to enhance that now into kind of full spectrum capabilities to offer the best military solutions or advice to the Secretary and the President. And, so, the assessment will include all those things you mentioned, Senator, and we’ll do that very quickly,” Donovan responded.
Tuberville also discussed drug trafficking issues affecting Alabama and other states within Southern Command’s area of responsibility: “Being a football coach for thirty years, I’ve dealt with a lot of young people, and I saw the influx of drugs in our country really increase the last 10 or 15 years. But now that we are taking forceable action in your command, in our state of Alabama, I’ve seen and heard from our law enforcement officers that we have seen a decline in drugs. And I just wanna make that statement because if we don’t do something, if we don’t take a serious response to what they’re doing and coming through the Caribbean, we’re gonna lose this generation because our streets are filled with drugs. And if we’re closing our eyes to that then shame on us.”
Turning to Rudd’s nomination overseeing both Cyber Command and NSA—commonly referred to as holding a “dual hat”—Tuberville asked about potential challenges or benefits: “The NSA is likely our most powerful intelligence agency. Cybercomm’s importance has become increasingly more important as it has become part of almost every operation we undertake. It’s time to reevaluate that dual hat… What’s your thoughts?”
Rudd replied: “Yeah. Senator, again, from my experience of where I see that applied throughout my career, I think there’s demonstration of effectiveness as well as efficiency. I would characterize effectiveness should always trump efficiency…if it continues to come up as a topic, I’ll be objective. I’ll seek great insight from not only the two organizations but the customer as well…and provide my best advice.”
Tuberville concluded by expressing confidence in both nominees: “Yeah. There’s more than one way to skin a cat…this is gonna be a very important position—both of these obviously…when we get you possibly back after you after you’re confirmed, we’d love to get a good evaluation of what you think for the future of both of these commands.”
Senator Tuberville represents Alabama in the U.S Senate after being elected in 2020 following his career as a college football coach official website. He serves on several committees including Armed Services; Agriculture; Veterans’ Affairs; Health; Education; Labor; Pensions; Aging; and chairs an Armed Services subcommittee official website. His office provides constituent services across multiple cities in Alabama official website.