A top staffer to U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., suggested Republicans who should face primary opponents, according to a report.

“In my opinion it is imperative for all of the groups to make clear, in some words, that any Republican who votes for this will be primaried,” wrote Tuberville communications director Steven Stafford to the groups on Oct. 26, according to Politico.

“In my view, if enough mushy middle Republicans come out in opposition, then this is over,” the email, which came from Stafford’s Senate address, continued. “But they only need nine squishes. And they will get there if we don’t act.”

Stafford told Politico that the message was his personal opinion and that Tuberville was not aware he sent it and that his boss does not hold that belief.

The senator told the outlet that Stafford committed a “no no.”

“It wasn’t my statement. I totally disagree with that. We’re teammates here,” Tuberville said.

Stafford’s missive appears to be a violation of Senate rules forbidding using the chamber’s resources, such as Senate email addresses, for political work. But Politico noted the Senate Ethics Committee, which is tasked with investigating such violations, rarely takes actions on those types of potential offenses.

Since February, Alabama’s senior senator has put blanket holds on nearly 400 military nominations over Defense Department policy reimbursing service members for travel to obtain abortions if they are stationed in a state where the procedure is illegal.

Tuberville contends the policy is unlawful and can only be made by an act of Congress.

Stafford’s email was sent shortly after reports surfaces that Democratic and independent senators were planning a way to circumvent Tuberville’s holds.

On Wednesday, Tuberville faced pressure from his own party, when a group of Republican senators tried to navigate around the holds through unanimous consent and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voiced disapproval of Tuberville’s tactics.

But Tuberville objected to each of the 61 nominations Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, attempted to advance.

On the Senate floor Wednesday night, Sullivan said he was frustrated with Tuberville’s tactics, and claimed America’s adversaries were delighting in the gridlock caused by his colleague.

“By the way, [Chinese President] Xi Jinping is watching this right now, going, ‘I can’t believe they’re not letting these guys command. I’m scared to death of subs.’ He’s loving this. So is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. They’re loving it,” Sullivan said. “How dumb can we be, man?”