While the Left screams at buyouts offered to federal employees, and the end of taxpayer money for transgender causes overseas through USAID, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) says Trump is pushing all the right buttons.
On Tuesday, those buttons included withdrawing the United States from certain United Nations organizations and amping up pressure on Iran.
The U.S. has now ended ties with the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) while ending funding for U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNRWA).
The executive order states that UNRWA has been “infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organizations.”
Israeli intelligence reports in early 2024 found that 12 UNRWA employees were direct participants in the Hamas attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Domestically, Trump has reversed the policy of Joe Biden’s Department of Defense to pay for travel and other abortion-related expenses for military members and their dependents.
Circumventing the Supreme Court
The policy came about after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the power to regulate abortion to the states. Numerous states have responded with severe abortion restrictions or bans, but the DOD allowed military personnel stationed in red states to travel wherever they wanted to end a pregnancy.
Tuberville, a guest on the Washington Watch program Tuesday, was like the lone voice crying in the wilderness against that Pentagon policy. He eventually ended his one-man campaign of placing holds on promotions for high-ranking military officials until the policy was addressed after then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recruited enough Republican Senate votes to get around Tuberville and conduct votes on the promotions.
Some may argue that a lack of U.S. presence within these key UN organizations could create a dangerous void, but Tuberville told show host Tony Perkins he doesn’t think that’s the case, particularly as it related to UNHRC.
“It’s run by dictators, and we don’t deal with dictators," Tuberville said. "President Trump’s exactly right here. This is low-hanging fruit. At the end of the day, he’s going to start picking out the areas that really don’t support the American people and things we believe in."
This isn’t the first time Trump has picked the low-hanging fruit of the UNHRC. He withdrew the U.S. during his first term in 2018, citing bias against Israel.
“Now he’s been putting all these things together for the last two or three years, and they’re coming to fruition,” Tuberville said.
UNHRC set to review the U.S.’ human rights record in August, part of a routine evaluation it conducts of all members, The Kyiv Independent reported.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the U.N.’s World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement, moves he also made in his first term.
The U.S. has been UNRWA’s largest donor, sending between $300-$400 million taxpayer dollars each year, though funding remains paused since the revelation of staff members’ roles on Oct. 7.
The withdrawal from UNHRC and UNESCO, while ending funding for UNRWA, are all moves that strengthen the administrations relationship with Israel and came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House Tuesday.
'They never listen to us'
The U.S. absence from UNHRC isn’t likely to have significant impacts, Tuberville said.
“It might would help to have somebody in the room, but they never listen to us," the GOP senator complained. "Right now, we might be there, but we really have no voice."
Domestically, the reversal of the Pentagon's abortion policy could be predicted as the Trump campaign gained strength in the last election cycle.
Tuberville revealed has had several discussions about the issue with new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before his confirmation hearing.
“He was totally with me even before he thought he was going to be Sec Def. A lot of people are on board with this,” Tuberville said.
Experts have estimated the Biden DOD policy cost the military nearly $1 million a year before time off work was calculated.
That’s money, obviously, that was not used for the core military mission to defend the United States and its interests.
For Tuberville, the policy reversal couldn’t come quickly enough and he knows who to thank.
“I want to thank President Trump for doing this very early, helping the American taxpayers really understand that this (policy) was not a law. This was just done by a dictator in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that just absolutely just told the American taxpayer, we're going to do this no matter what you want,” he said.
