John Jefferson
The Republican US senator Tommy Tuberville is blocking the promotion of an army general and top aide to Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, citing concerns about the military leader’s alleged role in the lack of transparency surrounding Austin’s hospitalization earlier this year.
The army general in question, Lt Gen Ronald P Clark, has been nominated to become the four-star commander of all US army forces in the Pacific. But the Alabama senator and retired college football coach is holding up the promotion, according to the Washington Post.
“Senator Tuberville has concerns about Lt Gen Clark’s actions during secretary Austin’s hospitalization,” a spokesperson for the senator, Mallory Jaspers, told the Post.
Jaspers went on to say that Clark knew Austin was “incapacitated” and did not tell Joe Biden, breaking his oath to president.
The spokesperson said that Tuberville was waiting to review an inspector general’s report surrounding Austin’s handling of his hospitalization before Clark’s promotion.
Tuberville’s position with respect to Clark prompted the Pentagon to issue a statement saying “these holds undermine our military readiness.
“We urge the Senate to confirm all of our qualified nominees,” the statement from the Pentagon continued.
This is not the first time that the Republican Senator has placed military promotions on hold.
Last year, Tuberville held up the confirmation of several hundred military leadership nominations for about a month, saying it was a protest to the Pentagon’s then new abortion policy. The policy offers aid to service members and dependents forced to travel for abortions or other reproductive care.
Austin was hospitalized on 1 January after complications from prostate cancer surgery in December. The Pentagon caused an uproar after it didn’t release any notification – or even tell either Congress or the White House – about Austin’s absence, diagnosis or treatment until 5 January.
The Pentagon said that the nondisclosure was partly due to the fact that the general’s chief of staff was sick with the flu at the time.
The White House criticized Austin’s “lack of transparency” and called for a review of procedures, but it said that the defense secretary would re in his role.
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Many Republicans at the time called for Austin’s resignation, and the lack of transparency surrounding the hospitalization prompted an investigation into officials’ actions at the time as well as relevant procedures. It is not clear when that review will be completed.
On 1 February, Austin apologized and admitted that he did not “handle this right” in a news conference. He pledged to take “full responsibility” for the secrecy and said that he should have notified the president, the White House and the American public.
According to the Washington Post, Clark and other senior aides to Austin did not initially know about his cancer diagnosis and surgery until he was in intensive care on 2 January. But the Post reported that they then withheld that information from the Biden administration for two more days.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon told the Post that Clark has served in several positions of leadership in recent military conflicts and previously led troops in the Pacific.
The spokesperson described Clark as “highly qualified”, adding that he was “nominated for this critical position because of his experience and strategic expertise”.
Meanwhile, Tuberville relented on his abortion-related blockade of military promotions last year when faced with pressure from his fellow Republicans, who were alarmed about how the tactic could undermine national security.
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